The Toss of a Lemon Paperback - 2009
by Padma Viswanathan
Summary
From the rear cover
"Viswanathan . . . achieves something that is in many way more nuanced than the broad brushstrokes of an epic: a meditation on fate's workings in a family dominated by the quiet rule of one woman." The Washington Post Book World
Sivakami was married at ten, widowed at eighteen, and left with two children. According to the dictates of her caste, her headis shaved and she puts on widow's whites. From dawn to dusk, she is not allowed to contaminate herself with human touch, not even to comfort her small children.
Sivakami dutifully follows custom, except for one defiant act: She moves back to her dead husband's house to raise her children. There, her servant Muchamibecomes her public face. Their singular relationship holds three generations of the family together throughthe turbulent first half of the twentieth century, as India endures great social and political change. But as time passes, the family changes, too;Sivakami's son will question the strictures of the very beliefs that his mother has scrupulously upheld.Heartbreaking, exhilarating, and profoundly exotic, The Toss of a Lemon is above allan evocationof the tensions that change brings to every family."Padma Viswanathan has real talent." New York Times Book Review "[An] exquisite debut novel. . . . [E]lectrifying." Baltimore Sun Padma Viswanathan is a fiction writer, playwright and journalist. Her writing awards include residencies at the MacDowell Colony and the Banff Playwright's Colony, and first place in the 2006 Boston Review Short Story Contest. Shelives withthe poet and translator Geoffrey Brock and their children in Fayetteville, Arkansas."Details
- Title The Toss of a Lemon
- Author Padma Viswanathan
- Binding Paperback
- Edition Reprint
- Pages 636
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Harpervia
- Date 2009-09-01
- Illustrated Yes
- Features Illustrated
- ISBN 9780547247878 / 0547247877
- Weight 1.5 lbs (0.68 kg)
- Dimensions 8 x 5.3 x 1.6 in (20.32 x 13.46 x 4.06 cm)
-
Themes
- Chronological Period: 20th Century
- Cultural Region: Asian - General
- Cultural Region: Indian
- Ethnic Orientation: Indian
- Topical: Family
- Topical: Lgbt
- Library of Congress subjects Domestic fiction, India - Social life and customs
- Dewey Decimal Code FIC
Excerpt
Media reviews
"We are left wondering what will happen as all cultures in the world continue to converge -- will a collective future become more important than singular, personal pasts? -- a mystery that the book earns, and one that haunts us well after closing the back cover." - Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Viswanathan immerses readers in the realities of the caste system from both sides; in telling a universal story of generational differences on a personal level, she makes a vanished world feel completely authentic. Superbly done." - Booklist
"the portrait [Viswanathan] paints is dazzling. Gender rules, class relations, and the political castes of late 19th- and early to mid-20th-century India are well presented, making this an important work of historical fiction." - Library Journal, starred review
"With its rich and complex background and often sharp insights The Toss of a Lemon is a valuable and evocative work " - The Montreal Gazette
"What pleasure it was to read this rich and fascinating saga. It had me keeping the light on into the night, mad to find out what happened next." -- Lynn Freed, author of Reading, Writing, Leaving Home, Curse of the Appropriate Man, and the The Servants' Quarters
"The Toss of a Lemon is a captivating novel that in relating the story of one Indian woman and her family tells the story of a changing society. Precisely and deftly written, constantly interesting, morally serious yet sympathetic -- I challenge any reader to start reading this book and give up on it. It joins the company of the great novels on India" -- Yann Martel, author of Life of Pi
Citations
- Quill & Quire Books of the Yr, 12/01/2008, Page 1
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