Independence : a novel

Title:

Author:

Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee, 1956- author.

Summary:

India, 1947. In a village in Bengal live three sisters, daughters of a well-respected doctor. Priya: intelligent and idealistic, resolved to follow in her father's footsteps and become a doctor though society frowns on it. Deepa: the beauty, determined to make a marriage that will bring her family joy and status. Jamini: devout, sharp-eyed, and a talented quiltmaker, with deeper passions than she reveals. Theirs is a home of love and safety, a refuge from the violent events taking shape in the nation. Then their father is killed during a riot, and even their neighbors turn against them, bringing the events of their country closer to home. When the partition of India is officially decided, a drastic--and dangerous--change is in the air. India is now for Hindus, Pakistan for Muslims. The sisters find themselves separated from one another, each on a different path. They fear for what will happen to not just themselves, but one another. -- Provided by publisher.

General Note:

"Originally published as Independence in India in 2022 by HarperCollins India." --Title page verso.

"Three sisters, their deep bond, and the struggle for India's freedom" -- Cover.

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

275 pages ; 24 cm

Genre:

Historical fiction.

Domestic fiction.

Subject Term:

Sisters -- Fiction.

Fathers -- Death -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

India -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Fiction.

India -- History -- Partition, 1947 -- Fiction.

Bengal (India) -- Fiction.

Publisher:

William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers,

Publication Date:

2023

ISBN:

9780063142381

Publication Information:

New York, NY : William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2023]

Call Number:

DIVAKARUNI

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003649863	Adult Fiction	DIVAKARUNI Chitra Banerjee	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

"Divakaruni tells the story of India's independence through the eyes of three sisters, each of whom is uniquely different, with her own desires and flaws. I cheered for them and cried with them as they move through the history of their country that is at once devastating, inspiring, and triumphant. You will, too."-- Lisa See, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Set during the partition of British India in 1947, a time when neighbor was pitted against neighbor and families were torn apart, award-winning author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's novel brings to life the sweeping story of three sisters caught up in events beyond their control, their unbreakable bond, and their incredible struggle against powerful odds.

India, 1947.

In a rural village in Bengal live three sisters, daughters of a well-respected doctor.

Priya: intelligent and idealistic, resolved to follow in her father's footsteps and become a doctor, though society frowns on it.

Deepa: the beauty, determined to make a marriage that will bring her family joy and status.

Jamini: devout, sharp-eyed, and a talented quiltmaker, with deeper passions than she reveals.

Theirs is a home of love and safety, a refuge from the violent events taking shape in the nation. Then their father is killed during a riot, and even their neighbors turn against them, bringing the events of their country closer to home.

As Priya determinedly pursues her career goal, Deepa falls deeply in love with a Muslim, causing her to break with her family. And Jamini attempts to hold her family together, even as she secretly longs for her sister's fiancè

When the partition of India is officially decided, a drastic--and dangerous--change is in the air. India is now for Hindus, Pakistan for Muslims. The sisters find themselves separated from one another, each on different paths. They fear for what will happen to not just themselves, but each other.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni outdoes herself with this deeply moving story of sisterhood and friendship, painting an account of India's independence simultaneously exhilarating and devastating, that will make any reader--new or old--a devoted fan.

Author Notes

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni was born in India and later moved to the United States to attend college. She earned a M. A. at Wright State University and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.

Divakaruni held many odd jobs until she was able to become an accomplished writer. She was the president of MAITRI, a crisis hotline for female South Asian victims of domestic abuse, and is currently a professor at Foothill College in California.

Her works have been recognized in more than 50 magazines and 30 anthologies. She also has been awarded two PEN Syndicated Fiction Project Awards, a Pushcart Prize, and the Allen Ginsberg Poerty Prize. Divakaruni's books include Arranged Marriage and The Mistress of Spices. Her Title One Amazing Thing made The New York Times Best Seller List.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Divakaruni (The Last Queen) captures the upheaval and devastation of the partition of British India in this dazzling tale of three Hindu sisters caught up in the violent events. In 1947, Deepa, Priya, and Jamini Ganguly live with their father, Baba, and mother, Bina. Their once-peaceful Bengal village of Ranipur becomes a site of violence between Hindus and Muslims as independence looms. After Baba dies in the carnage, Bina takes to her bed, unable to work. Deepa, whose beauty is expected to bring a prestigious marriage, falls in love with Raza, a Muslim leader, and Bina banishes her as a result. Priya, who dreams of becoming a doctor, believes her fiancé, Amit, will wait for her to finish medical school, but he breaks their engagement. Amit, who still loves Priya, marries Jamini, the result of a misunderstood deathbed promise from Baba to Amit. Deepa's situation becomes dire when Raza dies in the sectarian violence; in a hair-raising rescue into the new Pakistan, where Deepa has concealed her Hindu identity, family and friends save her from an army captain who's trying to force her into marriage. Divakaruni seamlessly weaves the political upheaval into the characters' lives, including the nation's bereavement after Gandhi's assassination and Priya's meeting with the female resistance leader Sarojini Naidu, while also depicting the beauty, vitality, and vastness of India. This is a must. Agent: Simon Lipskar, Writers House. (Jan.)

Library Journal Review

In the New York Times best-selling Benedict's The Mitford Affair, Nancy Mitford must choose between family and country when she realizes to her shock that two of her sisters support the Nazis' rise to power. Billed as an historical thriller (with the accent on historical), the Edgar Award--winning Blauner's Picture in the Sand tells the story of Egyptian American businessman Ali Hassan, who shares his secret activist past with a grandson now in Syria as a holy warrior, hoping to dissuade him from extremist actions (75,000-copy first printing). By the author of the internationally best-selling The German Girl, Correa's The Night Travelers moves from Ally Keller's struggles to get biracial daughter Lilith out of 1930s Berlin to Lilith's experiences during the Cuban revolution to Nadine's work in late 1980s Berlin to honor the remains of victims of the Nazis even as daughter Luna encourages her to investigate her own past. American Book Award--winning, Orange Prize short-listed Divakaruni's Independence tracks the fate of three Indian sisters--ambitious Priya, gorgeous Deepa, and devout Jamina--who are torn apart as the 1947 Partition looms (50,000-copy first printing). Saab's Daughters of Victory, successor to her well-received debut, The Last Checkmate, follows Svetlana Petrova from revolutionary idealism in 1917 Russia to disillusionment with Bolshevism to concern for a granddaughter aching to join the resistance as Germans invade the Soviet Union in 1941 (100,000-copy paperback and 30,000-copy hardcover first printing). A debut from Black Canadian Thomas, In the Upper Country opens in 1800s Dunmore, Canada, terminus of the Underground Railroad, where imbued Black journalist Lensinda Martin urges a new arrival who's just killed a slave hunter to give testimony before her arrest; instead, she proposes that they trade stories, with the resulting narrative a braided-together history of Black and Indigenous peoples in North America.