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rbharath's review against another edition
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
A book with decent cultural context, though I wish it would have been better.
Jaya was only 15 when her dad passed away. She gets married to Mohan and they have two children - Rahul & Rati. They have moved to a flat in Dadar, Mumbai for Mohan’s career. Mohan has landed into some trouble at work and there is a sense of dread on what will follow. There are many other characters in the story – Kusum, Vanitamami, Dilip, Kamat, Rupa, Jeeja, Tara, Manda, Nayana & others. Relationship difficulties mount between Jaya and Mohan, because of the tense situation.
The story is told from Jaya’s perspective, the challenges she faces as a woman who has made her husband & family the main priority of her life. There are many characters which provide a good reference point for Jaya’s circumstances. I did find myself empathizing with Jaya’s situation, and the story does bring her difficulties to life very well. The characters however find no growth in the story. Overall, I found the story & narration dreary and listless. The cultural references are good, but sketchy. I felt the ending was rather tame, and expected far more from the story.
das_susrita99's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
arts_world's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
4.0
rimjhimvyas's review against another edition
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
nabilhamzaki's review against another edition
4.0
"It was Daniel Defoe, that old Puritan, who called fiction 'a sort of lying.' What did he say? Yes...'a sort of lying that makes a great hole in the heart at which by degrees a habit of lying enters in.'
You're right, Mr Defoe, but who is to draw the line between fact and fiction? Our own little bits of fiction are precious to us. It's hard to let them go. But a hole in the heart...? Can we live with that?"
You're right, Mr Defoe, but who is to draw the line between fact and fiction? Our own little bits of fiction are precious to us. It's hard to let them go. But a hole in the heart...? Can we live with that?"
anushareflects's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
bingereading's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
mrusbooks's review
4.0
A beautiful rendition of Krishna’s sage advice to Arjun at the end of the Gita – Do as you desire. The writing is complex, but the plot twists and emotional turbulence inside the mind of the central character Jaya will keep you turning pages.
lydia_bookfanatique's review against another edition
5.0
"If I were a man and cared to know the world I lived in, I almost think it would make me a shade uneasy – the weight of that long silence of one half of the world"
-Elizabeth Robins
Shashi Deshpande relates the struggles of an Indian housewife portraying how years of silence to keep a marriage going, to guard her identity as a wife finally breaks Jaya, a victim of patriarchy. As she says “ I had learnt it at last – no questions, no retorts. Only silence”
When her husband, Mohan is caught engaging in dishonest practices at his job, Jaya and Mohan are forced to leave their home and stay in a flat of her brother’s until the situation blows over. This uninvited change to her mundane life situation opens in Jaya a floodgate of emotions that she had carefully kept under wraps during her long marriage. She ponders over her marriage, her role as a career wife, a mother and a writer. Jaya travels into the labyrinths of her brain to unpack her long silence in the marriage. The novel has no plot per say with plenty of characters making an appearance throughout the book.
Shashi Deshpande discusses those bits of patriarchy at homes we conviniently sweep under the rug. She lends a format to what we see in our homes, highlighting those instances of discrimination we shrug off. What we fail to realise how years of conditioning to the patriarchal systems can either render a woman unresponsive or drive her to insanity.
It is a narrative that makes you uneasy, one that prompts you to think.
-Elizabeth Robins
Shashi Deshpande relates the struggles of an Indian housewife portraying how years of silence to keep a marriage going, to guard her identity as a wife finally breaks Jaya, a victim of patriarchy. As she says “ I had learnt it at last – no questions, no retorts. Only silence”
When her husband, Mohan is caught engaging in dishonest practices at his job, Jaya and Mohan are forced to leave their home and stay in a flat of her brother’s until the situation blows over. This uninvited change to her mundane life situation opens in Jaya a floodgate of emotions that she had carefully kept under wraps during her long marriage. She ponders over her marriage, her role as a career wife, a mother and a writer. Jaya travels into the labyrinths of her brain to unpack her long silence in the marriage. The novel has no plot per say with plenty of characters making an appearance throughout the book.
Shashi Deshpande discusses those bits of patriarchy at homes we conviniently sweep under the rug. She lends a format to what we see in our homes, highlighting those instances of discrimination we shrug off. What we fail to realise how years of conditioning to the patriarchal systems can either render a woman unresponsive or drive her to insanity.
It is a narrative that makes you uneasy, one that prompts you to think.
mrusbooks's review against another edition
4.0
A beautiful rendition of Krishna’s sage advice to Arjun at the end of the Gita – Do as you desire. The writing is complex, but the plot twists and emotional turbulence inside the mind of the central character Jaya will keep you turning pages.