- ISBN13: 9781416586104
- Condition: USED – VERY GOOD
- Notes:
Product Description
Bestselling author Indu Sundaresan presents a candid and stunning collection of stories about contemporary Indians and the cutting-edge issues surrounding them — where ancient tradition and modernity can often clash.
A young woman who was adopted by an American family in Seattle receives a letter from Sister Mary Theresa, nun at the Convent of Little Flowers in Chennai where she stayed as a child. Unbeknownst to her, the nun is her biological mother’s sister. The grandmother of an Indian journalist begs him to intervene with her husband — his grandfather — to prevent a young widow from being burned alive. A child born out of wedlock to the sixteen-year-old daughter of a peon on an engineering college campus throws the entire family into turmoil.
With the lush prose, vividly rendered settings, complex and appealing characters, and compelling narratives, the stories that comprise In the Convent of Little Flowers illuminate the lives of Indians at home and abroad today, where modernity offers them opportunities that their grandmothers only dreamed of, while others experience just as much oppression as ever. Indu Sundaresan brings together stories that both embrace and reject modern values with an authenticity that only a writer of her caliber could do.
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I have read all her books. She is my favorite author. All her other books are exciting and you just cannot put them down. This book with the
short stories was not enough for me. I did not feel satisfied. I am looking foward to her next book. She is a great writer.
Ymelda De Vargas
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Rating: 2 / 5
I picked up this book at the local library (Thank God! I can’t imagine spending hard-earned money to buy this one. I even wondered why the library bothered to buy it). Full of discrepancies (using the word “maikye” to describe the husband’s home when the word actually means the girl’s maternal home), poor writing (read it to believe it) and ugly stereotypes about India (As if we didn’t have enough floating around already)! And all this coupled with trite incidents.
A journalist witnessing a Sati in modern day India and doing nothing about it! A grand mom tying her grand daughter to a tree and setting her on fire because she eloped!!! Puhhhhleeese! Give me a break! I grew up in India and this book embarrassed me. Don’t read this one and underestimate every Indian author. Most of them are way better than Indu Sundaresan.
Rating: 1 / 5
I haven’t read this author’s work before and I am blown away. Each short story is written with such accuracy that you feel like you are in the midst of the characters. In addition, the author creates plots that leave you thinking about the stories long after you’ve finished reading them. I am blown away and haven’t had such a powerful experience to an author in quite some time. I was really quite sad when I finished the book. I wanted to keep hearing her stories. I highly recommend this book and plan to check out the author’s other works now.
Rating: 5 / 5
All the 9 stories in “In the convent of little flowers” are very engaging introducing the reader to a compelling set of characters. Some of the stories tackle age old beliefs and traditions and how ingrained the characters are with them and how it affects their lives in today’s modern world with its freedom, hopes and dreams. It touches on the relationship dynamics between families. Some of the stories are poignant and get the reader thinking. This is a contemporary novel as against earlier books by this author. The stories are very interesting and I wanted to read more. The unforgettable characters have stayed with me long after I have finished this book. I loved this book and would definitely recommend it as a “must read”.
Rating: 5 / 5
This book contains nine short stories, mostly set in India. The good thing is that the stories are really short. So even if you don’t like the content, you don’t feel cheated of your time. I say this because last year I read and reviewed a book of short stories, that were outrageously long and lacked in substance.
A collection of short stories is like a C.D. of songs. You may like some, you may love some and some you may want to skip. What was refreshing to read in this book was the fact that each story deals with an issue and is set in a different class of society. The issues are: adopted child, cruelty towards aging parents, sati, inter-caste marriage, illegitimate child, social abandonement of aging parents, swingers etc. Talk about diversified tragedies!
Reading about ‘sati’ and a couple being set to fire just because they followed different religions and belonged to different castes, seemed a bit unreal and out of place in 2010. Out of nine stories four were good. The stories titled `Three and a half seconds’ and `Bedside Dreams’ were very moving as they take the reader inside the mind of aging parents who have given so much in life and expect nothing in return from their children. `The Key Club’ was a revelation. It takes you into the world of the filthy rich, who can afford everything. The only thing they cannot afford they buy with their moral bankruptcy. By daytime they are rich and famous and at night they change names and clothes to become swingers. From sati to swingers the society has changed a lot in India.
Indu’s narration has a haunting quality, that makes you want to turn the page. She writes little but conveys a lot through it. Her style has the old world charm where much is left to the imagination of the reader. With its unique mix of old and new, India is a fertile ground for writers. But instead of writing about all the social evils and injustices why don’t writers tap into the positive energy and bring out what is good in contemporary India? As I finished reading this book, a dialogue from the movie ‘Munnabhai’ came to my mind:
Senior citizen: What will Gandhiji think of today’s India?
Munnabhai: Gandhiji kahengey ki desh to apna ho gaya hai, lekin log paraye ho gaye hai. ( Gandhiji will say that the nation has become ours but the people have bacome strangers).
Ratna
Rating: 3 / 5