Syndetic Solutions - [Book Review for 9780786838592]

Keeping Corner

by Kashmira Sheth

Syndetic Solutions - [Book Review for 9780786838592]

Book Review

Publishers Weekly :

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Starred Review. Based on Sheth's (Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet) great-aunt's childhood, this absorbing, atmospheric novel opens in 1918 India, as pretty, 12-year-old Leela enjoys the pampering of her parents and the affections of her in-laws, whose house she will enter after her anu ceremony the following year. But when her husband dies of snakebite, Leela faces an altogether different fate as a widow. Because her family is brahman, Leela must relinquish all her jewelry and pretty saris, shave her head and, for an entire year, stay indoors, or keep corner. With encouragement from her older brother and help from her teacher, a disciple of Gandhi and his advocacy for social change, Leela finds the strength to challenge tradition as the year of keeping corner evolves. Sheth expertly weaves rich descriptions into the day-to-day activities (Ideas sank into my mind like monsoon rain into soil). Although readers unfamiliar with Indian history may not grasp the use of India's independence as a metaphor for Leela's growth, they will thoroughly identify with the heroine as she develops from a pleasure-seeking girl into an intelligent young woman: Your inner self is like an onion, she realizes, you keep peeling it and a new layer is always there.Ages 12-up. (Oct.)

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School Library Journal :

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Starred Review. Gr 6–9—Married at age 9, 12-year-old Leela looks forward to her anu, the ceremony to send her to her husband's home. Instead, his sudden death forces the young widow to stay in her own home for a year and face a bleak future. Suddenly, her life is "living death." The privileged Brahmin child living in rural India in 1918 can no longer wear the brightly colored clothing and beautiful jewelry she loves; her head is shaved. Even after her year in isolation, others will shun her or worse. Luckily for Leela, her older brother finds a teacher to tutor her, preparing her for examinations that might allow her to go on to school and a career in a less traditional city, if her family can be convinced. Thanks to the teacher's assignment to note and record details of the simple world in which Leela is confined, readers are immersed in sensory detail: the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells that surround her. Leela reads the newspaper, learning about Gandhi, whose influence is just beginning to be felt in a series of nonviolent protests. Her recognition of the unfairness of her situation and her growing personal strength is paralleled by changes in her country, long ruled by the English and by rigid tradition. As in Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet (Hyperion, 2006), Sheth provides a first-person narrative with a strong protagonist and rich sense of place, with the added bonus of an unusual historical perspective.—Kathleen Isaacs, Towson University, MD

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Syndetic Solutions - [Book Review for 0786838590] Book Review
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*Starred Review* Engaged at 2 and married at 9, 12-year-old Leela is awaiting her anu ceremony, after which she will move to her in-laws' home. But her husband is killed, and she suddenly becomes a widow. Her loving family follows the Brahman customs: Leela's head is shaved, her bright clothes are exchanged for plain ones, and most difficult of all, she must "keep corner," unable to leave her family's home for one year. She fears the saying that a widow's life "is like a living death," but India's fight for independence is escalating, and through discussions with her brother and her female tutor, both followers of Gandhi, Leela begins to question tradition: "Who started this? And why? Can anyone benefit from it?" Burying herself in news reports, literature, and her own writing, Leela determines to forgo the tradition of widows, who seem to "melt into darkness," and with the support of her brother and tutor, she begins to dream of a hopeful future as an educated, professional woman. Sheth (Blue Jasmine, 2004) sets up a thrilling premise in which politics become achingly personal as Leela's brave, tumultuous coming-of-age plays out in intimate detail against the backdrop of her nation's independence. Idealistic teens will be caught up in the human-rights issues, and the vivid cultural specifics, memorable characters, and the bold adolescent's challenge to tradition will attract a wide readership. Engberg, Gillian.

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