At 18, musical prodigy Janaki Venkatakrishnan escapes her father’s plans for an arranged marriage, fleeing her village for the bright lights of Bombay. She leaves behind a gaggle of gossip-mongering old women, but also her younger sister Mallika, who is forced to take care of their increasingly unhinged father. But ten years later, when Janaki announces her return and demands a meeting with Mallika, the buried past is once again excavated. In a span of seven days, memories and misgivings, innocence and wisdom, everyday truths and family secrets are laid bare as the two sisters prepare to face each other, and their childhood experiences, once and for all. Ameen Merchant’s poignant and ambitious debut novel, at once intensely imagined and sensitively nuanced, shines an unsparing light on the complex subject of family obligations and sibling relationships.

In the literary tradition of Rohinton Mistry and Arundhati Roy, this ambitious debut novel is a moving tale of family, tradition, loss and reconciliation. Meet Janaki and Mallika, two sisters from a middle-class Brahmin family in Madras, India. Janaki is a musical prodigy, sublimely gifted on the veena, but will soon be eighteen and dreads her aunt's schemes for an arranged marriage. Eschewing tradition, she runs off with a Muslim Bollywood star. Years later, Mallika receives a letter from Janaki, who is returning to Madras. In confident prose that resembles the rhythms and progression of an Indian raga, Ameen Merchant captures in rich detail the world of these Brahmin women, a world restricted by caste and cultural rules but also teeming with colour, music and food. It is a story about the traditions that bind us and the sacrifices we must make along the road to our own individual destinies.

Where Do Middle-Class, Tamil Brahmin Girls Go When They Turn Eighteen? Meet Janaki Venkatakrishnan, A Musical Prodigy Sublimely Gifted On The Veena, And Her Younger Sister, Mallika. Janaki Escapes Her Father'S Plan For An Arranged Marriage, Fleeing Her Village Home For The Bright Lights Of Bombay, Scandalizing Her Father And The Chatterbox, Gossip-Mongering Women Of The Neighbourhood. She Also Leaves Behind Mallika, Who Is Forced To Take Care Of Their Increasingly Unhinged Father. But Ten Years Later, When Janaki Announces Her Return And Demands A Meeting With Mallika, The Buried Past Is Once Again Excavated, And This Time There Is No Escape From The Old Ghosts Of Loyalty And Betrayal. In A Span Of Seven Days, Memories And Misgivings, Innocence And Wisdom, Everyday Truths And Familial Secrets Are Laid Bare As The Two Sisters Prepare To Face Each Other And Everything About Their Childhood Once And For All. In Their Shared Memories, We Meet Thathappa, Their Cinema-Owner Grandfather, A Man Of Spiritual Extremes; Gayatri Chitti, The Girls' Cosmetics-Addict Aunt, Who Is Scheming To Take Their Dead Mother'S Place; Asgar, The Bollywood Megastar, And Zubeida, His Wheelchair-Bound Wife; Salima Sikri, A Feminist Editor, Poised And Ready For The Scoop Of The Year& The Silent Raga Is A Moving And Ambitious Debut Novel. In Prose That Resembles The Rhythms And Progression Of A Raga, Ameen Merchant Weaves A Finely Wrought Story About The Traditions That Bind Us And The Sacrifices We Must Make Along The Road To Our Own Individual Destinies. Intensely Imagined, The Novel Shines An Honest And Unsparing Light On Family Matters, Only To Reveal The Tug And Pull Of Bloodlines And The Infinite Power Of One Healing Word: Love.

What are the fictions that shape Canadian engagements with the global? What frictions emerge from these encounters? In negotiating aesthetic and political approaches to Canadian cultural production within contexts of global circulation, this collection argues for the value of attending to narratorial, lyric, and theatrical conventions in dialogue with questions of epistemological and social justice. Using the twinned framing devices of crosstalk and cross-sighting, the contributing authors attend to how the interplay of the verbal and the visual maps public spheres of creative engagement today. Individual chapters present a range of methodological approaches to understanding national culture and creative labour in global contexts. Through their collective enactment of methodological crosstalk, they demonstrate the productivity of scholarly debate across differences of outlook, culture, and training. In highlighting convergences and disagreements, the book sharpens our understanding of how literary and critical conventions and theories operate within and across cultures.

The Indian English Novel of the New Millennium is a book of sixteen pieces of scholarly critique on recent Indian novels written in the English language; some on specific literary trends in fictional writing and others on individual texts published in the twenty-first century by contemporary Indian novelists such as Amitav Ghosh, Kiran Desai, Aravind Adiga, K. N. Daruwalla, Upamanyu Chatterjee, David Davidar, Esterine Kire Iralu, Siddharth Chowdhury and Chetan Bhagat. The volume focuses closely on the defining features of the different emerging forms of the Indian English novel, such as narratives of female subjectivity, crime fiction, terror novels, science fiction, campus novels, animal novels, graphic novels, disability texts, LGBT voices, dalit writing, slumdog narratives, eco-narratives, narratives of myth and fantasy, philosophical novels, historical novels, postcolonial and multicultural narratives, and Diaspora novels. A select bibliography of recent Indian English novels from 2001–2013 has been given especially for the convenience of the researchers. The book will be of great interest and benefit to college and university students and teachers of Indian English literature.

New York Times bestselling author Brian Jacques gives us another tales of Redwall, filled with “The Knights of the Round Table with paws” (The Sunday Times) along with their friends and enemies. In this sixteenth Redwall adventure, Martha Braebuck, a young hare-maid, wheelchair bound since infancy, wonders about a mysterious old poem relating to the ancient abbey of Loamhedge--and whether it may hold the key to her cure.

A witty, wry look at contemporary marriage and relationships, from the author of For Matrimonial Purposes.

The memoirs of Mustapha Hussain, from his coming of age in a Minangkabau Malay community in Perak to his part in the formation of the Young Malays Union.

In 1980s Bombay, a highly regarded voice teacher and his affluent sixteen-year-old student enter into a relationship that will have unexpected and lasting consequences in their lives, and the lives of their families. With exquisitely sensuous detail, quiet humor, and unsentimental poignancy, Amit Chaudhuri paints a luminous portrait of the spiritual and emotional force behind a revered Indian tradition; of two fundamentally different but intricately intertwined families; and of a society choosing between the old and the new.