Mai - by Geetanjali Shree (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The International Booker-winning feminist writer's debut novel asks who is the person behind the veils of purdah, tradition and motherhood.

'I had never given it a thought. Had Mai had a life before us? Could she have been a little girl whose name was Rajjo?'

'Mai' means mother. In a traditional north Indian home, Mai is a silent, submissive presence. Her children aspire to rescue her from patriarchal bounds. But, as they come to realise, Mai quietly resists their version of liberation. Poignant and evocative, Mai weaves its family tales of love and loss around the complex inner life of a woman who hides a boundless, unseen fire.

Mai is essential Shree. As Shree says of the process of writing it: 'As the novel proceeded and the life of the novel's mother and children unfolded, I was obliged to choose between my intellectual and ideological certainties and the slowly emerging truth of the narrative.'

Review Quotes

"Mai may be a short novel, but it possesses the qualities of classic Hindi literature." --The Telegraph (India)

"Mai is a smooth read which does not force you into thinking or feeling a particular way, instead it presents a familiar reality subtly posing its questions. The theme of a mother's undying commitment for her children and family through self-sacrifice is frequent in many pieces of world's literatures, however, in Mai, Shree questions the way we view this." --Feminism in India

About the Author

Author of five novels and five short story collections, Geetanjali Shree's work has been translated into English, French, German, Serbian, and some Indian languages. She has received and been shortlisted for a number of national and international awards and fellowships, including winning the International Booker Prize for Tomb of Sand. She lives in New Delhi.

Nita Kumar is an anthropologist. She completed her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in History and has taught at the University of Chicago, Brown University, and the University of Michigan among other places.