9780151013432 - The Toss of a Lemon (1 results)

ARC. Condition: New. No Jacket. First U.S. Edition. Advance Reading Copy. Spanning the life of one woman (1896-1962), THE TOSS OF A LEMON brings us intimately into a Brahmin household, into an India we've never before seen. Married at ten, widowed at eighteen, left with two children, Sivakami must wear widow's whites, shave her head, and touch no one from dawn to dusk. She is not allowed to remarry, and in the next sixty years she ventures outside the family compound only three times. She is extremely orthodox in her behavior except for one defiant act: She moves back to her dead husband's house and village to raise her children. That decision sets the course of her children's and grandchildren's lives, twisting their fates in surprising, sometimes heartbreaking ways. Inspired by her grandmother's stories, Padma Viswanathan masterfully brings to life a profoundly exotic yet utterly recognizable family in the midst of social and political upheaval. '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.' {Yann Martel, THE LIFE OF PI}. THE TOSS OF A LEMON is the debut of a major new writer. New ARC in pictorial wraps. 640 pp. L66.