Song of the Cuckoo Bird: A Novel [Paperback]

Amulya Malladi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 27, 2005

A sweeping epic set in southern India, where a group of outcasts create a family while holding tight to their dreams.

Barely a month after she is promised in marriage, eleven-year-old orphan Kokila comes to Tella Meda, an ashram by the Bay of Bengal. Once there, she makes a courageous yet foolish choice that alters the fabric of her life: Instead of becoming a wife and mother, youthful passion drives Kokila to remain at the ashram.

Through the years, Kokila revisits her decision as she struggles to make her mark in a country where untethered souls like hers merely slip through the cracks. But standing by her conviction, she makes a home in Tella Meda alongside other strong yet deeply flawed women. Sometimes they are her friends, sometimes they are her enemies, but always they are her family.

Like Isabel Allende, Amulya Malladi crafts complex characters in deeply atmospheric settings that transport readers through different eras, locales, and sensibilities. Careening from the 1940s to the present day, Song of the Cuckoo Bird chronicles India’s tumultuous history as generations of a makeshift family seek comfort and joy in unlikely places–and from unlikely hearts.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Malladi's fourth novel transports readers on a cinematic journey through late-twentieth-century India as seen through the eyes of the inhabitants of Tella Meda, a religious community on the Bay of Bengal. Kokila comes to the ashram in 1961 as an 11-year-old orphan. She later renounces her arranged marriage to stay within Tella Meda's restrictive walls, a move she comes to regret. The ashram's guru attracts a cast of misfits from near and far--widows, abused wives and their neglected children, the daughter of a prostitute, a father guilty over his daughter's suicide--each illuminated by Malladi in her kaleidoscopic perusal of both the ills of India's caste system and the repercussions of rigid moral dicta. Running historical updates on India's wars, elections, and assassinations introduce each chapter. But the crux of the novel is how Malladi's female characters struggle with the stifling effects of caste and gradually respond to the movement for women's rights that surges as the century draws to a close. Deborah Donovan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

“A sprawling, gorgeous intergenerational saga, in which the spice and savor of traditional India progresses painfully into the present–the changing of women’s lives and the dimunition of the man as household god. Told through the mysterious embroidery of one family’s tapestry–its life, loves, regrets, secrets, deaths, and even what comes after death–Song of the Cuckoo Bird is mesmerizing.”
–Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean and The Breakdown Lane

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Product Details

• Paperback: 381 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (December 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345483154
• ISBN-13: 978-0345483157
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.7 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #617,453 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #88 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Indian

More About the Author

I was born in 1974 in a small town, Sagar in central India. I grew up in India and left for the United States when I was 20 years old armed with a bachelor's degree in engineering. My first stop was Memphis, Tennessee and I absolutely loved it there. Despite personally knowing people who got mugged around campus, I don't remember being afraid, and remember that time as a fun one. I got a master's degree in journalism and found myself in the bustle of Silicon Valley with a job as an online editor with a start up in San Francisco. I had fun! I lived in the SF Bay Area for several years before moving to Denmark in 2002. My husband is Danish, so wanted to give Europe a try once we had children. I live near Copenhagen with my husband and two sons; and recommend the city in the summer and fall...okay, maybe not the fall...just for the summer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Song of the Cuckoo Bird, March 9, 2006

By 

Meena Raghavan "meenarags" (Santa Clara, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Song of the Cuckoo Bird: A Novel (Paperback)

I just finished reading this book and just had to write a review. I read a lot of books by Indian authors and as an Indian there are times that I am disappointed and unimpressed, this is not one of those times. "Song of the Cuckoo Bird" is a truly fabulous experience as it takes you through the lives of people living in an ashram over a span of almost 50 years. This was an inspiring read. I especially loved the chapter about the ashram getting a television; I remember those times well.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Cuckoo Bird" is a beloved story, January 29, 2006

By 

Shaney Marhkam (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Song of the Cuckoo Bird: A Novel (Paperback)

Song of the Cuckoo Bird is a fascinating book portraying the different customs in Indian culture and how outcasts live by these customs.

Kokilia, a young Indian girl, comes to live in Tella Meda, an ashram, where she must wait to menstruate before she goes to live with her husband. She decides that she doesn't want to leave and lives there for the rest of her life amongst other people who are not accepted anywhere else, whether they are the daughter of a prostitute or a widow whose relatives do not want her. The relationships between the characters are very intriguing, and are slightly similar to the tight-knit environment of a small high school. The people in the ashram all have different morals, values, and beliefs, and this often leads to conflict. However, they all have one thing in common that binds them together; they have no other place to go.

It is amazing to read how the characters hurdle obstacle after obstacle and carry on with life despite their numerous problems. The chapters alternate points of view and show the differences between the characters' hopes and fears and how they think of each other. What I like the most about this book is how all of the characters still hold onto their aspirations despite their social situations. Also, I like how the author mentions what is happening politically in India while the residents of Tella Meda are carrying on their everyday lifestyles. Because they are so out of touch with the real world, these things do not affect the characters. It is interesting to see the differences of how the death of a prime minister is handled by an urban city dweller compared to how it is handled by a poor outcast in a small town. What seems like a big deal in the city seems like nothing in Tella Meda. The small sheltered environment is the only home the characters have, so they only care what is happening in that place.

The only problem I have with this book is that there are too many characters that have similar names, and it is easy to get them confused with one another. Some of these characters are even unnecessary; the author just eliminates them from the story entirely.

All in all however, this book is a great novel. So many different events happen, making the plot exciting and interesting, and with the different points of view on each of these events, it is possible to see all sides of the story.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely stunning!, March 9, 2006

By 

Ulla234 "Ulla234" (Memphis, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Song of the Cuckoo Bird: A Novel (Paperback)

I loved this book! I have read other books by Amulya and have liked them but this one is truly superior. The story is beautiful, the characters interesting and the writing remarkable. I recommend this book to everyone interested in India and who want to read a novel written not specifically for a "foreign" audience, but one that just tells a story without pretense.