New Delhi, A family residing at Tolstoy House in Lutyens’ Delhi has concealed horrors within the layers of chiffon, silk and cotton sarees, under the plates of delicate Chinese delicacies, and behind the sickly sweet smiles of social gatherings.

In debut author Arunima Tenzin Tara’s “The Ex Daughters of Tolstoy House”, a dark secret with macabre details lies quietly under the surface of a seemingly normal family of a doctor father, three daughters and a mother.

“Some of the most interesting horror emerges from taking something ordinary, familiar and comforting, like food, and pushing it to a near absurd extreme, so that it starts to feel sinister,” Tara told PTI.

The book is centred around mother Meera, her husband Ambarish, and their three daughters – Sujata, Kavita and Naina. The story, while jumping between past and present, looks over the shoulders of Meera and Naina who follow, hide, and retaliate against Ambarish’s nocturnal activities.

“Exploring the dynamics of a dysfunctional family, where individuals love, fear and hate each other, also helped create an atmosphere of dread and violence. This worked quite naturally as a gothic family drama, blending elements of the supernatural with unresolved family histories and psychological tensions between characters,” the writer added.

“The Ex Daughters of Tolstoy House” is a story about women who are forced to play certain roles within their family that is governed by a violent man.

“It is about their food, their clothes, their friendships and their memories. It’s about the roles they choose to play, are forced or coerced into playing within a family. It is also a story about a kind of violence they live with,” the filmmaker-writer said.

As present and past interact with each other in the pages of the novel, themes of oppressive relationships, childhood trauma, and violence keep emerging, often through food preparations that is “at times a weapon, a burden, a fond memory or a nightmare”.

“Food in many families is exclusively the woman’s domain. The kitchen is the one place where she can have some control. For many of us, reminiscing about food is how we think of our families. Food is where stories are, so it was only natural for food in this novel to also be where the bad stories, the anger and discomfort is,” the author said.

The 31-year-old made a deliberate choice not to provide the women characters, who endure both mental and physical violence, with an ally — whether male or female.

“There are no allies in this novel. Even the women in the family cannot afford to ally with each other. Everyone in this novel is navigating the same tumultuous terrain, and their actions are governed by fear and a survival instinct. The story looks at two women who keep their cards very close to their chest, and here they have no space, and perhaps not even a need for a male ally,” Tara said.

“The Ex Daughters of Tolstoy House”, published by Speaking Tiger, is available on online and offline stores for ₹499.

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