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L'amante Di Calcutta (2014)

by Sujata Massey(Favorite Author)

4.06 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

8854507369 (ISBN13: 9788854507364)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Neri Pozza

series

Daughters of Bengal

review 1: Loved this book! Favorite genre is historical fiction and Massey does it well. Her research and journalism background are evident in this read - the heroine is someone to root for, and the action and introduction to various culture continues to keep you engrossed. The character development is great, too (although weak for some of the minor characters but that hardly matters). Can't wait to read more from her.
review 2: This novel makes me wish I could give it ten stars--it's that great. I have read Sujata Massey's award winning previous books in the Rei Shimura series and thoroughly enjoyed them, but this stand-alone novel, The Sleeping Dictionary, is truly amazing. The story begins in 1930 in a Bengali village where the main character, a girl named Pom, live... mores with her family. One day Pom takes a path through the jungle to visit her father who is working in a rice field when she sees an enormous tidal rushing toward her home. She climbs a sturdy tree and manages to survive for three days until she is rescued by a boat piloted by an old man with his family. So begins the fascinating story of Pom whose name is changed to Sarah when she is taken in as a maidservant in a British boarding school. There her love for language and books develops as she is chosen as a tutor for a wealthy girl named Budushi who needs Sarah to transcribe English into her native Bengali. Thus begins the thread that weaves the love of language for Sarah. She leaves Lockwood school and takes a train to Calcutta but ends up in Kharagpur. Her life takes an ominous turn as she unknowingly seeks refuge in a house of prostitution where is violently raped by an Englishman and becomes pregnant. It is here that she learns the meaning of the Sleeping dictionary that means paramours. After the birth of her daughter, she makes arrangements for her daughter to be raised by a family she trusts and goes about finding a job with a man who needs his books catalogued and refilled. This initiates the third phase of her life as she eventually moves into his spacious apartment and becomes his wife.In Chapter thirteen, Massey prologues her story with words and their definitions with the first word being Jeopardy. At the beginning of the book she listed the characters and words vital to the story. It is here that the tribulations of India start and the reader realizes this is the crux of her story. As India struggles to throw off British imperial rule, Sarah, who has renamed herself Kamala, uses her skills for reading, languages, and reading gestures of those around her to fight for India's independence and her own happiness. This novel is comparable to Wouk's The Winds of War in its scope and insight into the heart of India. It is a magnificent and detailed account of the country's striving for independence seen through the eyes of a young girl who matures along with her country. It is a wonderful novel and the zenith of Massey's writing In Chapter thirteen less

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