“There can be no vaulting over time,” thinks Urmila, the narrator of Shashi Deshpande’s profound and soul-stirring novel. “We have to walk every step of the way, however difficult or painful it is; we can avoid nothing.” After the death of her baby, Urmila finds her own path difficult to endure. But through her grief, she is drawn into the lives of two very different women—one her long-dead mother-in-law, a thwarted writer, the other a young woman who lies unconscious in a hospital bed. And it is through these quiet, unexpected connections that Urmi begins her journey toward healing. The miracle of The Binding Vine, and of Shashi Deshpande's deeply compassionate vision, is that out of this web of loss and despair emerge strand of life and hope—a binding vine of love, concern, and connection that spreads across chasms of time, social class, and even death. In moving and exquisitely understated prose, Deshpande renders visible the extraordinary endurance and grace concealed in women's everyday lives.

From one of India's most acclaimed writers--a radiant novel, now available in paperback.

A haunting new collection of short stories from one of India’s most acclaimed writers Shashi Deshpande, in her new collection of short stories, explores a world darkened by the despair and unhappiness of women trying to break out of predefined roles. There is the newly married protagonist of the title story, whose self-respect and sense of self re violated by her crass and insensitive husband; the wife who finds herself involved in an affair because of her husband’s indifference; the mother who tries to forge a relationship with a hostile daughter.... These and other stories in this collection serve to reaffirm Shashi Deshpande in her reputation as a writer of acuity and compassion.

Shashi Deshpande's latest novel explores the lives of two women, one obsessed with music and the other a passionate believer in Communism, who break away from their families to seek fulfilment in public life. Savitribai Indorekar, born into an orthodox Hindu family, elopes with her Muslim lover and accompanist, Ghulaam Saab, to pursue a career in music. Gentle, strong-willed Leela, on the other hand, gives her life to the Party, and to working with the factory workers of Bombay. Fifty years after these events have been set in motion, Madhu, Leela's niece, travels to Bhavanipur, Savitribai's home in her last years, to write a biography of Bai. Caught in her own despair over the loss of her only son. Madhu tries to make sense of the lives of Bai and those around her, and in doing so, seeks to find a way out of her own grief.

One morning, with no warning, Gopal, respected professor, devoted husband, and caring father, walks out on his family for reasons even he cannot articulate. His wife, Sumi returns with their three daughters to the shelter of the Big House, where her parents live in oppressive silence: they have not spoken to each other in 35 years. As the mystery of this long silence is unraveled, a horrifying story of loss and pain is laid bare—a story that seems to be repeating itself in Sumi's life. This multigenerational story, told in the individual voices of the characters, catches each in turn the cycles of love, loss, strength, and renewal that becomes an essential part of the women's identities. A Matter of Time reveals the hidden springs of character while painting a nuanced portrait of the difficulties and choices facing women—especially educated, independent women—in India today.

Not Many Readers Of Shashi Deshpande May Be Aware That Her First Experiments In Writing Fiction Started With The Short Story. Over The Years, She Has Published About A Hundred Stories In Literary Journals, Magazines And Newspapers, In Between Writing Her Immensely Popular Novels Which Are Now Read All Over The World, And Taught In Universities Wherever Indian Writing Has An Audience. In This Collection We Find Shashi Deshpande At Her Best, Writing With Subtlety And A Rare Sensitivity About Men And Women Trapped In Relationships And Situations Often Not Of Their Making. The Wife Of A Successful Politician Who Must Look To A Long-Lost Past In Order To Keep Up The Pretence Of Contentment; A Little Girl Who Cannot Comprehend Why The Very Fact Of Her Being Born Is A Curse; A Young Man Whose Fantasy Of Love Drives Him To Murder; A Newly-Wed Couple With Dramatically Differing Views On What It Means To Get To Know Each Other Every One Of The Characters Here Is Delineated With Lucidity And Compassion. Written Over The Past Three Decades, The Stories In This Volume Provide An Insight Into Often Forgotten Aspects Of Human Feelings And Relationships, Weaving A Magical Web Of Emotions That Is Testimony To The Unusual Depth And Range Of Shashi Deshpande S Writing.

“Climbing plants are hugely underrated—this book with its lively expression of deep knowledge should encourage everyone to grow more of them.” —Noël Kingsbury Climbing plants constitute a huge, and largely untapped, resource for today’s gardeners. Because their habit of growth is primarily vertical, they can be used for utilitarian as well as ornamental purposes like providing privacy, or screening eyesores. In this comprehensive reference, renowned horticulturist Allan Armitage selects and profiles the most useful and attractive climbing plants for a wide range of sites and conditions, from well-known favourites like clematis, morning glories, and wisteria to more unusual plants like Dutchman’s pipe, passion flowers, and the tropical mandevillas. Each profile includes a general description (enlivened by Armitage’s trademark wry humour) along with the plant’s hardiness, plant family, best method of propagation, method of climbing, and etymology of botanical and common names.“Climbing plants are hugely underrated—this book with its lively expression of deep knowledge should encourage everyone to grow more of them.” —Noël Kingsbury

Why did I do it? Why did I enter the country of deceit? What took me into it? I hesitate to use the word love, but what other word is there?' Devayani chooses to live alone in the small town of Rajnur after her parents' death, ignoring the gently voiced disapproval of her family and friends. Teaching English, creating a garden and making friends with Rani, a former actress who settles in the town with her husband and three children, Devayani's life is tranquil, imbued with a hard-won independence. Then she meets Ashok Chinappa, Rajnur's new District Superintendent of Police, and they fall in love despite the fact that Ashok is much older, married, and-as both painfully acknowledge from the very beginning-it is a relationship without a future. Deshpande's unflinching gaze tracks the suffering, evasions and lies that overtake those caught in the web of subterfuge. There are no hostages taken in the country of deceit; no victors; only scarred lives. This understated yet compassionate examination of the nature of love, loyalty and deception establishes yet again Deshpande's position as one of India's most formidable writers of fiction

A lesbian love story set during the Nazi occupation in Holland.