Daughters of the House [Paperback]

Indrani Aikath-Gyaltsen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 12, 1991

Living in peaceful isolation with her sister, aunt, and grandmother, eighteen-year-old Chchanda finds her ordered world of women shattered by the presence of Pratap, her aunt's new husband. A first novel.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set in rural India, this quietly moving tale of doomed passion, scandal and betrayal sensitively probes one family's problems. Chchanda, the sarcastic, precocious teenage narrator, burns with resentment and insecurity when Aunt Madhulika, who raised her, brings home a fiance, selfish lawyer Pretap Singh. The household is a matriarchy: Chchanda's father abandoned them long ago and her mother is dead, leaving the aunt, Chchanda's sister Mala and Parvati, a thorny, vituperative Roman Catholic servant who is nevertheless embraced by the Hindu Brahmin family. Seduced by Singh, Chchanda guiltily carries on a secret affair with him while Madhulika is increasingly crippled by lupus. When her aunt dies, Chchandra, now pregnant, is free to marry her uncle-in-law, but fate and conscience intervene, taking her in a radically different direction. In sharp, shining prose Indian first novelist Aikath-Gyaltsen dissects domestic life with the gimlet precision of Jane Austen.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This American debut by an Indian writer considers insularity, invasion, and betrayal in the quiet but profound realm of the home. On the banks of the Koel River near Ranchi sits Panditji's House, home to three generations of self-sufficient women. The house is the source of their identity and pride and the heart of this story. Young and self-absorbed, Chchandra becomes hostile and suspicious when faced with a male interloper, the new husband of her ailing aunt Madhulika. As this outsider and rival infiltrates the daily routines of Panditji's House, Madhulika succumbs to degenerative lupus, and a shocking complication irrevocably alters the household's equilibrium. The narrative voice, sometimes vague, sometimes overanalytical, dominates this imperfect debut. Appropriate for sizable fiction, feminist, and international collections.
- Janet Ingraham, Worthington P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd (December 12, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140169040
• ISBN-13: 978-0140169041
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,334,647 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 stars to be exact, August 24, 2007

By 

Jacque Cartwright "butterfly" (texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Daughters of the House (Paperback)

This was an interesting story, sometimes humorous. I think it was a little hard to get into because of some of the language, but it did turn out to be a pretty good read. Not the best, but certainly not the worst that I've read.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars daughters of the house, January 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Daughters of the House (Paperback)

I enjoyed this book immensly. i was confused as to when it took place, but besides that it was a great book which i read in only a couple days. I would suggest this to anyone who is looking for an interesting book with a little different taste to it.