Mistress: A Novel [Paperback]

Anita Nair (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 8, 2006

When travel writer Christopher Stewart arrives at a riverside resort in Kerala, India to meet Koman, Radha's uncle and a famous dancer, he enters a world of masks and repressed emotions. From their first meeting, both Radha and her uncle are drawn to the enigmatic young man with his cello and his incessant questions about the past. The triangle quickly excludes Shyam, Radha's husband, who can only watch helplessly as she embraces Chris with a passion that he has never been able to draw from her. Also playing the role of observer-participant is Koman; his life story, as it unfolds, captures all the nuances and contradictions of the relationships being made--and unmade--in front of his eyes.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Lushly infused with Hindu mysticism and potently imbued with volcanic emotions of fury, contempt, fear, and wonder, Nair's spirited tale of forbidden love set in contemporary India mirrors the radiance and majesty of the traditional Indian dance form known as kathakali. The presence of a young American irrevocably alters the lives of Radha; her husband, Shyam; and uncle Koman. Tape recorder in hand, Chris Stewart is ensconced in the resort compound operated by Radha's husband, intent on interviewing Koman about his once illustrious career as a kathakali dancer, yet it is Radha who fatefully captures his interest. Their attraction is immediate and immense, starkly contrasting the thinly disguised revulsion Radha feels for Shyam. As the lovers flaunt convention and Radha risks ostracism, Koman ruefully reveals the complex details of his heritage and the sacrifices he chose to make for the sake of his craft. Tempestuously exotic, Nair's intricately woven multicultural and multigenerational saga pulsates with passion and desire. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Tempestuously exotic, Nair's intricately woven multicultural and multigenerational saga pulsates with passion and desire."

--Booklist

 

"This intricately plotted novel by Nair (Ladies Coupé), her third to be published in the United States, blends myth, history, and human emotion into a mixture as sweet as the nectar of the jackfruit and as tangled as human behavior . . . Highly recommended."

--Library Journal, starred review

 

Praise for Ladies Coupé

"Nair is a powerful writer, who through this tender story shows great understanding and compassion for women and for the choices and regrets they cannot avoid."
--Booklist

"Nair's strength lies in bringing alive the everyday thoughts, desires and doubts of these six ordinary women."
--Times Literary Supplement
 
" . . . quietly powerful . . ."
--Kirkus Reviews
 
"A sensitive exploration of the tension of self-actualization vs. familial responsibility in a society with traditional values, this novel . . .will surely resonate with readers everywhere."
--Library Journal
 
"Nair is a powerful writer. . .  she has created what must be one of the most important feminist novels to come out of South Asia."
--Daily Telegraph (UK)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 428 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; First Edition edition (August 8, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312349475
• ISBN-13: 978-0312349479
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,052,104 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A sumptous, evocative tale, August 29, 2007

By 

A reader (Rocky Mountains USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Mistress: A Novel (Paperback)

Against the backdrop of Kerala in Southern India, Anjali Nair paints a deeply evocative tale of generations past and present, of locales near and far, of love, honor and betrayal. It is the story of Radha, a woman with modern day skills but still bound by tradition, her husband Shyam, her Uncle Konam ... and Chris who arrives at their resort from the USA.

Radha feels constrained in her marriage of convenience, her artistic soul free to seek self expression only in conversations with the dreamy and philosophical Konam, who has disappointed his family by becoming a famous Kathakali dancer. She is bearly tolerant of Shyam, who she sees as materialistic and boorish, with lowbrow aesthetic tastes. The sudden appearance of Chris in their midst causes her latent vibrance to erupt with volcanic fury of emotions, which changes the relationships she has with all three men.

In a sonorous cadence, Nair introduces in turn each of the nine types of human emotions (as exemplified in the classical dance drama form of Kathakali). She spins her tale from the narratives mainly of Radha, Shyam and Konam, an emotion serving as the theme for each of nine chapters. Radha and Chris (is this a clever update of the iconic Hindu lovers Radha and Krishna?) meet again and again as not-so cladestine lovers while Shyam helplessly watches on and Konam gives the relationship tacit approval.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, October 24, 2008

By 

Tira "Tira" (Anguilla) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mistress: A Novel (Paperback)

I quite enjoyed this book, my second by Anita Mair, the first being Ladies' Coupe. A lot of her writing is not just about plot or "story" but about the feelings and experiences of the characters, and in that she excels, writing in a way that evokes the time and place as well as fleshing out the characters.

3.0 out of 5 stars Too much going on, March 12, 2010

By 

Ms. N. M. Jennings - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mistress: A Novel (Paperback)

I quite enjoyed this book. It took me about two weeks to read and at times I was excited about going back to it. However,there are just too many plots in the novel and this made it a bit monotonous at times. I also felt that certain aspects of the book don't work; the first page and a half of each chapter is particularly boring and I skimmed through these. The most convincing character is Shyam, as the possessive husband. The uncle story works less well as it's too drawn out and after reading the very long passages about his fathers life I found myself questioning why they were told in such detail and what the relevance of them was. Instead I would have liked more time spent on the Radha/Chris relationship, as his seemed more central to the purpose of the novel.