What the Body Remembers: A NovelOut of the rich culture of India and the brutal drama of the 1947 Partition comes this lush and eloquent debut novel about two women married to the same man. Roop is a young girl whose mother has died and whose father is deep in debt. So she is elated to learn she is to become the second wife of a wealthy Sikh landowner in a union beneficial to both. For Sardaji’s first wife, Satya, has failed to bear him children. Roop believes that she and Satya, still very much in residence, will be friends. But the relationship between the older and younger woman is far more complex. And, as India lurches toward independence, Sardarji struggles to find his place amidst the drastic changes. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, What the Body Remembers is at once poetic, political, feminist, and sensual. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - BookConcierge - LibraryThing5***** and a ❤ This is an extraordinary book. The novel deals with the struggles to form Pakistan, when Muslims fought Sikhs and Hindus, and with the traditional culture vs the modern expectations. It ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - LibraryCin - LibraryThingIt is India in the years leading up to independence from England and Partition, when the country will be divided into India and Pakistan. Roop has no mother, but has a father who is poor. When she is ... Read full review
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Alam arms Atma baby Bachan Singh become beneath blood body bring British brown canal chunni close comes courtyard Cunningham dark door English eyes face Farquharson fear feel feet fingers girl give Gujri Guru hair hand head hear Hindu holds India Jeevan Jorimon Kusum Lahore leave listen live look Madani Mama Mama's married meet mother mouth moves Muslim never night once orders Pakistan Papaji Pari Darvaza past Pavan pulls Punjab raises remember Revati Bhua rises roll Roop Roop's Sardar Kushal Singh Sardarji Satya says shoulders side Sikh sitting speak stands stay stop tears tell things told touch turban turns understand village voice waiting walk wall watch wedding woman women