
Lavanyadevi
by Kusum Khemani
Title:
Lavanyadevi
Author:
Kusum Khemani
Format:
Paperback
Number of pages:
280 pages
Publisher:
Orient Blackswan Pvt Ltd
ISBN-13:
9789354428579
EAN:
9789354428579
Publication Date:
20/06/2024
Classifications:
Special Features
Weight (g):
444
Dimensions (mm):
219 x 143 x 16
Publication Country:
United Kingdom
Language:
English
Condition:
New
Description
Marwari literature from Bengal reflects a rich interplay of migration, dislocation and fluid identities. As a Kolkata Marwari, in Kusum Khemani’s fiction the schisms between ‘Bengali’ and ‘Marwari’ blur to reveal a delightfully plural, composite, and distinctively Indian ethos. Lavanyadevi, her award-winning 2013 novel, follows a traditional aristocratic Bengali family as it transitions into modernity, from British India to the present. Spanning five generations of a zamindar family, Lavanyadevi is a story about women and their search for self, about shared laughter and friendships that endure across generations, beliefs and cultures—between mother and daughter, grandmother and granddaughter, and Marwari and Bengali women. Khemani’s women protagonists are strong, clear-sighted, both worldly and sublime, embodying a larger-than-life idealism while being grounded firmly in the everyday. Lavanyadevi—a compelling woman of perfection, extraordinary vision, qualities, and grace—remains real and credible because she is self-aware, self-critical, open to others, and to change.










