“book review of a handful of rice by kamala markandaya”

A poignant novel about the triumph of the human spirit over poverty’s privations and predicamentsRavi, the son of a peasant, joins in the general exodus away from destitution. The indifferent and harsh streets of the city lead him to the underworld of petty criminals. A chance misdeed acquaints hi... More

Kamala Markandaya, author of the classic Nectar in a Sieve, published ten novels in all, the last of which appeared in 1982. For the next two decades, till her death in 2004, she lived a life of near anonymity in the outskirts of London. But she hadn't stopped writing; shortly after her death, h... More

‘The Coffer Dams is an absorbing tale about mechanical strength and spiritual weakness, physical certainties and moral doubts. It is set in modern India but the conflict of values at its heart is universal’—John MastersClinton, founder and head of a firm of international construction engineers... More

Hardbound... More

Set in a village in southern India shortly after India gained independence, Nectar in a Sieve portrays, through the lives of its characters—Rukmani, Nathan and their children—the hopes and aspirations of a young nation recently embarked on the path of development, surmounting many obstacles alon... More

This American Library Association Notable Book of 1955 tells the story of a peasant woman in India, married as a child bride to a tenant farmer, working with her husband to wrest a living from land ravaged by droughts, monsoons, and insects. Through years of poverty and disaster, she sees one of her... More