Brinda Charry

Inspired by a historical figure, an exhilarating debut novel about the first native of the Indian subcontinent to arrive in Colonial America—for readers of Esi Edugyan and Yaa Gyasi. Meet Tony: insatiably curious, deeply compassionate, with a unique perspective on every scene he encounters. Kidnapped and transported to the New World after traveling from the British East India Company’s outpost on the Coromandel Coast to the teeming streets of London, young Tony finds himself in Jamestown, Virginia, where he and his fellow indentured servants—boys like himself, men from Africa, a mad woman from London—must work the tobacco plantations. Orphaned and afraid, Tony initially longs for home. But as he adjusts to his new environment, finding companionship and even love, he can envision a life for himself after servitude. His dream: to become a medicine man, or a physician’s assistant, an expert on roots and herbs, a dispenser of healing compounds. Like the play that captivates him—Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream—Tony’s life is rich with oddities and hijinks, humor and tragedy. Set during the early days of English colonization in Jamestown, before servitude calcified into racialized slavery, The East Indian gives authentic voice to an otherwise unknown historic figure and brings the world he would have encountered to vivid life. In this coming-of-age tale, narrated by a most memorable literary rascal, Charry conjures a young character sure to be beloved by readers for years to come.

A Novel

The East Indian

"Meet Tony: insatiably curious, deeply compassionate, with a unique perspective on every scene he encounters. Kidnapped and transported to the New World after traveling from the British East India Company's outpost on the Coromandel Coast to the teeming streets of London, young Tony finds himself in Jamestown, Virginia, where he and his fellow indentured servants--boys like himself, men from Africa, a mad woman from London--must work the tobacco plantations. Orphaned and afraid, Tony initially longs for home. But as he adjusts to his new environment, finding companionship and even love, he can envision a life for himself after servitude. Set during the early days of English colonization in Jamestown, before servitude calcified into racialized slavery, The East Indian gives authentic voice to an otherwise unknown historic figure and brings the world he would have encountered to vivid life"--

"This companion to early modern drama equips undergraduate students with the information needed to situate the plays in their socio-political, intellectual and literary contexts. Chapters survey important political, cultural and intellectual events and movements, ranging from the Reformation to emerging nationalism to humanism and to print culture. The book also places at students' disposal some of the key primary documents that constitute the discursive context in which the plays are situated. Finally, it introduces them to the major authors and key dramatic texts of the period and emphasises the importance of both a historicist and close-reading approach to better engage with these works. Rather than using various texts to cover this ground, this book provides undergraduate and college-level students embarking on an in-depth exploration of early modern drama with one resource, making both critical and contextual information accessible even as it helps make their approach to the literature more insightful and sophisticated"--

An Introduction with Primary Sources

The Arden Guide to Renaissance Drama

This series offers a new type of study aid which combines lively critical insight with practical guidance on the critical writing skills you need to develop in order to engage fully with Shakespeare's texts. The books' core focus is on language: both understanding and enjoying Shakespeare's complex dramatic language, and expanding your own critical vocabulary, as you respond to his plays. More than any other Shakespeare play, 'The Tempest' has lent itself to rewriting and is among the most 'metadramatic' of Shakespeare's works, pondering the value of creating worlds with words.

Language and Writing

The Tempest

Arden Student Guides: Language and Writing offer a new type of study aid which combines lively critical insight with practical guidance on the critical writing skills you need to develop in order to engage fully with Shakespeare's texts. The books' core focus is on language: both understanding and enjoying Shakespeare's complex dramatic language, and expanding your own critical vocabulary, as you respond to his plays. Key features include: • an introduction considering when and how the play was written, addressing the language with which Shakespeare created his work, as well as the generic, literary and theatrical conventions at his disposal • detailed examination and analysis of the individual text, focusing on its literary, technical and historical intricacies • discussion of performance history and the critical reception of the work • a 'Writing matters' section in every chapter, clearly linking the analysis of Shakespeare's language to your own writing strategies in coursework and examinations Written by world-class academics with both scholarly insight and outstanding teaching skills, each guide will empower you to read and write about Shakespeare with increased confidence and enthusiasm. Shakespeare's The Tempest is among the most widely-admired works of literature. More than any other Shakespeare play, it has lent itself to rewriting and is among the most 'metadramatic' of Shakespeare's works, pondering the value of creating worlds with words.

The Tempest: Language and Writing

The Arden Guide to Renaissance Drama is a single critical and contextual resource for students embarking on an in-depth exploration of early modern drama, providing both critical insight and accessible contextual information. This companion equips students with the information needed to situate the plays in their socio-political, intellectual and literary contexts. Divided into two parts, it introduces students to the major authors and significant dramatic texts of the period and emphasises the importance of both a historicist and close-reading approach to better engage with these works. The Guide offers: · primary texts from key early modern scholars such as Machiavelli, Heywood and Sidney · contextual information vital to a full understanding of the drama of the period · close readings of 14 of the most widely studied play texts by Shakespeare and his contemporaries · a single resource to accompany any study of early modern drama This is an ideal companion for students of Renaissance drama, offering students and teachers a range of primary contextual sources to illuminate their understanding alongside close critical readings of the major plays of the period.

The Tempest: Critical Tradition increases our knowledge of how Shakespeare's plays were received and understood by critics, editors and general readers. The volume offers, in separate sections, both critical opinions about the play across the centuries and an evaluation of their positions within and their impact on the reception of the play. The volume features criticism from key literary figures, such as Ben Jonson, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Dryden, John Ruskin and Edward Malone. The chronological arrangement of the text-excerpts engages the readers in a direct and unbiased dialogue, whereas the introduction offers a critical evaluation from a current stance, including modern theories and methods. Thus the volume makes a major contribution to our understanding of the play and of the traditions of Shakespearean criticism surrounding it as they have developed from century to century.

Shakespeare: The Critical Tradition

A new type of study guide which combines an exploratrion of Shakespeare's language with. specific help for students looking to develop their own critical responses and skills. Brinda Charry offers both a lively critical account of The Tempest and practical ideas on how best to engage with and write about this ever popular play.

In a small town in South India, beneath the brutal summer sun, a young girl watches anxiously as tensions simmer, then boil over... Her parents away on business, eleven-year-old Nithya spends six sultry months in Tamil Nadu with her unmarried uncle and widowed aunt. Battling sheer boredom, stupefying heat and nosy neighbours, she befriends the family's pretty servant, Sudha. Tagging along to milk the buffalo and gather vegetables, Nithya learns the rhythm of the older girl's life - and the secret that threatens it. When Sudha hangs herself in her bedroom, the surrounding brahmin community seethes with fascination, and Nithya learns more about her uncle and her aunt that she wanted to know. As she tells Sudha's story in an exquisitely rendered voice, Nithya emerges as an extraordinary girl in her own right.

The Hottest Day Of The Year

Who Knows What I Am? Who Cares? I Don T Ever Step Into A Church And If I Go To The Temple It S Only To Look At The Bangle Stalls On The Big Festival Days. Without Warning A Family On Campbell Street Wakes Up To The Return Of A Long-Lost Member: Vasu. After Nearly Fifteen Years Of Unexplained Absence He Turns Up Suddenly, Accompanied By Anand, His Mysterious Caretaker. They Are Met By Vasu'S Family, Including His Long-Suffering Wife Shanti And Their Children, Priya And Vivek; Their Beautiful, Strong-Willed, Yet Insecure Neighbour Kathy; And The Feisty, Flirtatious Maid-Servant Rani. In The Days That Follow, The Two Men Become The Centre Of Attention And Conflict. The Residents Of Campbell Street Attempt To Understand The Mystery Of Their Companionship Even As Rumours Gather: Of Men Fleeing Justice Only To Regroup And Recover Their Strength Before The Next Onslaught On Religious Sanity, Of Money Being Collected To Fund Temples, And Of A Personal Obsession That Threatens To Destroy The Entire Community. In A Series Of First-Person Narratives, Unusual Characters Like Sapna, The Eunuch Queen Of A Touring Circus, And Railway Track, Who Alternates Between Bouts Of Insanity And The Occasional Moment Of Utter Lucidity, Take The Plot Forward Without Pause. Driven By Emotionally Charged Encounters Between Individuals On The One Hand And Unexpected Collisions Between Individuals And Society On The Other, Naked In The Wind Shows Us New Ways Of Understanding A Country In Transition, Where Religious And Communal Identities Have Begun To Define The Very Nature Of Existence.

Brinda Charry

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