Shashi Deshpande

Not Many Readers Of Shashi Deshpande May Be Aware That Her First Experiments In Writing Fiction Started With The Short Story. Over The Years, She Has Published About A Hundred Stories In Literary Journals, Magazines And Newspapers, In Between Writing Her Immensely Popular Novels Which Are Now Read All Over The World, And Taught In Universities Wherever Indian Writing Has An Audience. In This Collection We Find Shashi Deshpande At Her Best, Writing With Subtlety And A Rare Sensitivity About Men And Women Trapped In Relationships And Situations Often Not Of Their Making. The Wife Of A Successful Politician Who Must Look To A Long-Lost Past In Order To Keep Up The Pretence Of Contentment; A Little Girl Who Cannot Comprehend Why The Very Fact Of Her Being Born Is A Curse; A Young Man Whose Fantasy Of Love Drives Him To Murder; A Newly-Wed Couple With Dramatically Differing Views On What It Means To Get To Know Each Other Every One Of The Characters Here Is Delineated With Lucidity And Compassion. Written Over The Past Three Decades, The Stories In This Volume Provide An Insight Into Often Forgotten Aspects Of Human Feelings And Relationships, Weaving A Magical Web Of Emotions That Is Testimony To The Unusual Depth And Range Of Shashi Deshpande S Writing.

Collected Stories

Small Remedies

Jay'S Life Comes Apart At The Seams When Her Husband Is Asked To Leave His Job While Allegations Of Business Malpractice Against Him Are Investigated. Her Familiar Existence Disrupted, Her Husband'S Reputation In Question And Their Future As A Family In Jeopardy, Jaya, A Failed Writer, Is Haunted By Memories Of The Past. Differences With Her Husband, Frustrations In Their Seventeen-Year-Old Marriage, Disappointment In Her Two Teenage Children, The Claustrophia Of Her Childhood&Amp;Mdash;All Begin To Surface. In Her Small Suburban Bombay Flat, Jaya Grapples With These And Other Truths About Herself&Amp;Mdash;Among Them Her Failure At Writing And Her Fear Of Anger. Shashi Deshpande Gives Us An Exceptionally Accomplished Portrayal Of A Woman Trying To Erase A 'Long Silence' Begun In Childhood And Rooted In Herself And In The Constraints Of Her Life.

That Long Silence

Shashi Deshpande&Rsquo;S Novel Is About The Secret Lives Of Men And Women Who Love, Hate, Plot And Debate With An Intensity That Will Absorb Every Reader. It Is A Story That Begins, Conventionally Enough, With A Woman&Rsquo;S Discovery Of Her Father&Rsquo;S Diary. As Manjari Unlocks The Past Through Its Pages, Rescuing Old Memories And Recasting Events And Responses, The Present Makes Its Own Demands: A Rebellious Daughter, Devious Property Sharks And A Lover Who Threatens To Throw Her Life Out Of Gear Again. The Ensuing Struggle To Reconcile Nostalgia With Reality And The Fire Of The Body With The Desire For Companionship Races To An Unexpected Resolution, Twisting And Turning Through Complex Emotional Landscapes. In Moving On Shashi Deshpande Explodes The Stereotypes Of Familial Bonds With An Uncanny Insight Into The Nature Of Human Relationships And An Equally Unerring Eye For Detail.

Moving On

Devayani Chooses To Live Alone In The Small Town Of Rajnur After Her Parents&Rsquo; Death, Ignoring The Gently Voiced Disapproval Of Her Family And Friends. Teaching English, Creating A Garden And Making Friends With Rani, A Former Actress Who Settles In The Town With Her Husband And Three Children, Devayani&Rsquo;S Life Is Tranquil, Imbued With A Hardwon Independence. Then She Meets Ashok Chinappa, Rajnur&Rsquo;S New District Superintendent Of Police, And They Fall In Love Despite The Fact That Ashok Is Much Older, Married, And&Mdash;As Both Painfully Acknowledge From The Very Beginning&Mdash;It Is A Relationship Without A Future. Deshpande&Rsquo;S Unflinching Gaze Tracks The Suffering, Evasions And Lies That Overtake Those Caught In The Web Of Subterfuge. There Are No Hostages Taken In The Country Of Deceit; No Victors; Only Scarred Lives. This Understated Yet Compassionate Examination Of The Nature Of Love, Loyalty And Deception Establishes Yet Again Deshpande&Rsquo;S Position As One Of India&Rsquo;S Most Formidable Writers Of Fiction.

In the Country of Deceit

Paperback edition of a critically acclaimed Indian novel called "large minded...philosophical and rich."--"New York Times Book Review"

A Matter of Time

Essays on Life and Literature

Subversions

Like Her Fiction, Shashi Deshpande S Essays Hold A Universal Appeal, Even When Firmly Entrenched In The Social Realities Of Our Everyday Life And Grappling With Issues That Are Particularly Indian. Some Of The Finest Pieces In This Collection Deal With Language And Writing: The Prickly And Often Acrimonious Issue Of English, The Deep And Unfortunate Divide Between English And The Regional Languages, The Importance And Necessity Of Translations, The Compulsions Of The Global Market On Literature, A Writer S Obligation To Self-Censorship, The Moral Vision That Underscores All Good Writing, The Unshakable Worth Of Readers And Much More. There Are Also Essays In Which Shashi Deshpande Talks About Her Own Craft, How Each One Of Her Novels Took Shape, Going Into Particulars And Readily Sharing Confidentialities So That Readers Will Experience The Same Intimacy They Encounter In Her Novels. Much Of Her Writing Is Shaped By The Fact That She Is A Woman. With Unflinching Honesty She Clearly Articulates The Difficulties Of Writing As A Politically Aware Woman, Touching Upon Matters Of Contention Such As Gender, Feminism, Marginalization And The Relevance Of Reworking Myths. Thought-Provoking And Engaging, This Collection Showcases, For The First Time, The Broad Sweep Of Deshpande S Non-Fiction Writing.

Writing from the Margin and Other Essays

A Novel

Come Up & be Dead

A powerful portrayal of one woman's fight to survive in a world that offers no easy outs, "The Dark Holds No Terrors" is a compelling first novel ("The Book Review" [India]).

The Dark Holds No Terrors

Jaya's life comes apart at the seams when her husband is asked to leave his job while allegations of business malpractice against him are investigated. Her familiar existence disrupted, her husband's reputation in question and their future as a family in jeopardy; Jaya, a failed writer, is haunted by memories of the past. Differences with her husband, frustrations in their seventeen-year-old marriage, disappointment in her two teenage children, the claustrophia of her childhood-all begin to surface. In her small suburban Bombay flat, Jaya grapples with these and other truths about herself-among them her failure at writing and her fear of anger. . . Shashi Deshpande gives us an exceptionally accomplished portrayal of a woman trying to erase a 'long silence' begun in childhood and rooted in herself and in the constraints of her life.

From one of India's most acclaimed writers--a radiant novel, now available in paperback.

The Binding Vine

A brilliant new novel from one of India's greatest writers She is an oncologist whose days are driven by the desire to alleviate pain. He is a rising star in the musical world, whose life is governed by his art. Yet, all it takes is one meeting for everything to change. Set in Mumbai, Shashi Deshpande's new novel tells the story of an unlikely love between two unusual people. Tender and tempestuous by turns, it draws you into the conflicts, languid pleasures and sharp sorrows of falling in love with a stranger who can never entirely be yours.

Strangers to Ourselves

Shadow Play

Why are you still alive-why didn't you die?' Years on, Sarita still remembers her mother's bitter words uttered when as a little girl she was unable to save her younger brother from drowning. Now, her mother is dead and Sarita returns to the family home, ostensibly to take care of her father, but in reality to escape the nightmarish brutality her husband inflicts on her every night. In the quiet of her old father's company Sarita reflects on the events of her life: her stultifying small town childhood, her domineering mother, her marriage to the charismatic young poet Mahohar.

Dark Holds No Terrors

Il buio non fa paura

R. K. Narayan

A Haunting New Collection Of Short Stories From One Of India S Most Acclaimed Writers Shashi Deshpande, In Her New Collection Of Short Stories, Explores A World Darkened By The Despair And Unhappiness Of Women Trying To Break Out Of Pre-Defined Roles. There Is The Newly Married Protagonist Of The Title Story, Whose Self-Respect And Sense Of Self Are Violated By Her Crass And Insensitive Husband; The Wife Who Finds Herself Involved In An Affair Because Of Her Husband S Indifference; The Mother Who Tries To Forge A Relationship With A Hostile Daughter&. These And Other Stories In This Collection Serve To Reaffirm Shashi Deshpande In Her Reputation As A Writer Of Acuity And Compassion.

Stories and Table Talk

Salt & Sawdust

A father who delights in the human body, its mysteries, its passion, and the knowledge that it contains and conceals. A mother who wields the power of her love mercilessly. A sister separated in childhood. An uncle who plays games of life and death as a member of the Bombay underworld. A passionate love affair that tears the family apart. And a young woman left to make sense of the world and of her own sexuality. Shashi Deshpande's novel is about the secret lives of men and women who love, hate, plot and debate with an intensity that will absorb every reader. It is a story that begins, conventionally enough, with a woman's discovery of her father's diary. As Manjari unlocks the past through its pages, rescuing old memories and recasting events and responses, the present makes its own demands: a rebellious daughter, devious property sharks and a lover who threatens to throw her life out of gear again. The ensuing struggle to reconcile nostalgia with reality and the fire of the body with the desire for companionship races to an unexpected resolution, twisting and turning through complex emotional landscapes. In Moving On Shashi Deshpande explodes the stereotypes of familial bonds with an uncanny insight into the nature of human relationships and an equally unerring eye for detail.

Shashi Deshpande

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