Landscapes of Writing

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Bapsi Sidhwa

"Set in 1938 colonial India against the backdrop of Mahatma Gandhi's rise to power, Water follows the life of eight-year-old Chuyia, a child-bride who is abandoned at a widow's ashram after the demise of her fifty-year-old husband. There, she is forced to live out a life of penitence until death." "Unwilling to accept her fate, Chuyia becomes a catalyst for change in the lives of the widows. When her friend, the beautiful widow-prostitute Kalyani, falls in love with a young, upper-class Gandhian idealist, the forbidden affair boldly defies Hindu tradition and threatens to undermine the delicate balance of power within the ashram." "Water offers an examination of the lives of widows in colonial India, but ultimately it is a haunting and lyrical story of love, faith and redemption."--BOOK JACKET.

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Ayad Akhtar

How to Defend Yourself is a distinguished work by Ayad Akhtar (Pulitzer Prize Winner), celebrated for its literary depth, resonant storytelling, and enduring cultural impact.

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Khushwant Singh

Hymns of the gurus is a distinguished work by Khushwant Singh (Padma Vibhushan, Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, Partition Chronicler), celebrated for its literary depth, resonant storytelling, and enduring cultural impact.

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Thrity Umrigar

When Frank and Ellie Benton lose their only child, seven-year-old Benny, to a sudden illness, the perfect life they had built is shattered. Filled with wrenching memories, their Ann Arbor home becomes unbearable, and their marriage founders. But an unexpected job half a world away offers them an opportunity to start again. Life in Girbaug, India, holds promise—and peril—when Frank befriends Ramesh, a bright, curious boy who quickly becomes the focus of the grieving man's attentions. Haunted by memories of his dead son, Frank is consumed with making his family right—a quest that will lead him down an ever-darkening path with stark repercussions.Filled with satisfyingly real characters and glowing with local color, The Weight of Heaven is a rare glimpse of a family and a country struggling under pressures beyond their control. In a devastating look at cultural clashes and divides, Umrigar illuminates how slowly we recover from unforgettable loss, how easily good intentions can turn evil, and how far a person will go to build a new world for those he loves.