New Delhi, Sept. 6 -- All the characters we meet in Ponnu Elizabeth Mathew's debut novel, The Remnants of Rebellion, have sweet names, carefully chosen. There's an Aleyamma, an Eesho Achappa, his wife Kochuthresia, a Mamma Mollykutty, a Krishnan, a Pappan, an Avaran, and a Mouse Appachan. Even for a reader familiar with Malayalam, these are names that are memorable perhaps also because these are names remembered by a child. There's also Elsy, the cook and caretaker of Eastman estate, Duke the dog, and Cutlet, the other dog. Then there's a Roy whose full name is the mouthful Sarvamayavibhanjana Roy.

These names are said, sung, and remembered by Aleyamma who is just moving into the Eastman estate in Puthuloor, Kerala, when the novel opens....