WESTERN LANE by Chetna Maroo

Gopi and her two older sisters live in England and are still reeling after their mother’s death.  Their father has decided to turn his energies toward making his daughters excellent squash players.  Meanwhile, their father’s brother and his wife, who live in Edinburgh, have offered to raise one of the girls.  Eleven-year-old Gopi, our first-person narrator, is the most likely candidate, but she is also the best squash player by far.  She becomes friends with a boy named Ged who plays squash at the same facility, and they both register for a major tournament that will take place in a few months.  This tournament becomes the focus of most of the book’s characters, but an overheard remark leads to events that threaten Gopi’s participation.  This book definitely has melancholy overtones, but the prospect of the tournament keeps both the characters and the reader engaged.  The specter of the dead mother looms over everyone, and too many decisions seems to require debate over what she would do if she were still alive.  This frequent review of the dead mother’s possible opinion stifles her family’s ability to move forward and into a life without her.  The father is obviously depressed and struggling to be motivated to keep the family afloat, while he suffers disapproval over his friendship with Ged’s mother.  I don’t want to make this post longer than the book itself, but Ged’s mother, who has very little to say in this book, is probably my favorite character.  What she does say is wisely protective of her son and not open to discussion, and she stands her ground firmly without wavering.  Gopi’s aunt is also intransigent on a completely different issue and in her mind is protective of Gopi.  In reality, her stance is rooted in a bias regarding what girls should and should not do.