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The Archer
Kiese Laymon called Shruti Swamy’s debut book of stories, A House Is a Body, “one of the greatest short story collections of the 2020s.” Now, Swamy brings us an accomplished and immersive coming-of-age novel set in Bombay in the 1960s and 1970s.
As a child, Vidya exists to serve her family, watch over her younger brother, and make sense of a motherless world. One day she catches sight of a class where the students are learning Kathak, a precise, dazzling form of dance that requires the utmost discipline and focus. Kathak quickly becomes the organizing principle of Vidya’s life, even as she leaves home for college, falls in love with her best friend, and battles demands on her time, her future, and her body. Can Vidya give herself over to her art and also be a wife in Bombay’s carefully delineated society? Can she shed the legacy of her own imperfect, unknowable mother? Must she, herself, also become a mother?
Intensely lyrical and deeply sensual, with writing as rhythmically mesmerizing as Kathak itself, The Archer is about the transformative power of art and the possibilities that love can open when we’re ready.
This recommended reading and discussion guide was shared and sponsored in partnership with Algonquin.
Book club questions for The Archer by Shruti Swamy
Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.
Why do you think the book is called The Archer?
From the time she is a young girl, Vidya sees herself as different from the people around her, and often keeps to herself even as she desires to be closer. Why do you think this is?
The novel begins in third person but then changes to first person. What effect did this shift have on you as a reader? What does this change in perspective mean for Vidya?
Vidya doesn’t remember key moments in her life. Why do you think she is able to forget them and then remember them? How can she do this? Does this feel true to your experience of memory?
Is Vidya a queer character, and is this a queer story? What does queerness mean in a time and place where the concept as we understand it does not exist?
Vidya struggles to reconcile her desire to be a dancer with the other forces in her life. Do artists in the United States, particularly women, face a similar struggle?
Vidya swears she won’t marry, and then she does. Why?
One of the book’s major themes is desire. Vidya desires her mother’s attention, free time to pursue kathak, the ability to make her own choices, a true intimacy with another person, freedom in her art. Is Vidya ever able to fulfill her desires? Do they make her happy?
Does Vidya reconcile her complicated relationship with her mother? With motherhood in general? How does this show up in her relationship with Kalki?
Kathak is the organizing principle of Vidya’s life. Is it possible—or healthy—to be as driven toward something as Vidya is to kathak? What are the costs of Vidya’s drive? What are the benefits? Do you have a similar organizing principle, and if so, what is it?
The Archer Book Club Questions PDF
Click here for a printable PDF of the The Archer discussion questions