An indian authoress wrote a childrens book in 1982, her name was Anita Desai, and her book was

entitled The village by the sea. The story revolves around a family in the small village called Thul, it is 14 kilometres from Bombay. The family consists of 4 children, Lila is thirteen years old and the oldest of them, she is as mature as an adult though because of all her responsibility. Hari Is the second oldest, he is twelve and the main character. The villages main income are fishing, the women pray to the gods by offering at a rock in the sea. Lila is in charge of taking care of the two younger siblings Bela and Kamal, as well as their anemic mother. Their father isnt much of help because all he does with their income is spend it on drinks in the local toddy shop. He is constantly in debt and had to sell his fishing boat. Hari gets fed up with this and heads for Bombay for work. Lila is left alone to care for the little ones and their mother, help comes unexpectedly from the DeSilvias and the future looks a bit brighter. Hari made it to bombay and there he is all alone, no money food or shelter. Fortunately the proprietor of the Sri Krishna Eating House, Jagu, took him in for work and a place to sleep. There Hari builds a friendship with mister Panwallah, a kind watchmender who has his shop next to the restaurant.

Because of the events that occurs in Bombay Hari realizes that he needs to return to Thul with the money he gathered in Bombay and help his family through the troubled times. Meanwhile back in Thul the children have to admit their mother to the hospitial, and the DeSilvas help their drunken father to change his ways and is by their mothers side during her treatment, without drinking and collecting debts. As hari returns he has learned to adebt to the changes in his world.

The book is well written nicely described environments not too detailed so it gets unbearable to read. Its written with proper english language and it was not so hard to understand, apart from the indian native words. It is a single book with no prequels or sequels. I didnt enjoy this book very much, I couldnt find it interesting. Although I did get a little depressed when the dogs fate was revealed. A relieving ending to the book, things worked out fine and they were all happy, I liked that, I would recommend this book because it actually has a nice story. Although i would much rather read a fantasy book. Book report The village by the sea Jimmy Edlund Es3