Mama Tandoori [Paperback]

It wasnt uncommon in my childhood for roti to be off the menu, because the rolling pin was broken again.

Ernest van der Kwasts childhood is peopled by an array of colourful characters: from his strait-laced Dutch father, to Bollywood star Uncle Sharma, to talented heptathlete Aunt Jasleen.

But it is his overbearing yet loving Indian mother who is at the beating heart of this big-hearted, hilarious family saga. Veena van der Kwast is a woman with an iron will, hilarious directness, and a talent for haggling. Armed with her trusty rolling pin, every man she meets is eventually beaten to submission  especially her husband and three sons.

Intriguing, surprising, and moving in equal measure, this novel inspired by a very unusual family will make you smile from beginning to end.

A hilarious portrait of a Dutch-Indian family.

The funniest and most moving book I have read this year. Whoever was wondering where the Dutch Salman Rushdie, or even the Dutch Aravind Adiga, was hiding, is given the answer with?Mama Tandoori.

Im so pleased my mother was just a cashier at the local supermarket. Good book  a really good book.Lets hope there will be more books like this.

Ernest van der Kwast is a great talent.

The inventive writing style, dry sense of humour, and poignant observations of the writers many wondrous family members make this book a real pleasure to read [&] a fine mix of satire and compassion [&] A proper page-turner.Ernest van der Kwast has written an unusual book about unusual people. And most remarkable of all: he does it unusually well.Very witty and well-balanced.It must be dead-tiring to grow up in such a family and a real pleasure to be in a position  years later and a father by now  to write it all down. Thats to say if, like this writer, youre talented enough to turn all the humour into tragedy and make all the tragedy immensely funny.

[A] explosively funny, irresistible, and profolc)