Independence

THREE SISTERS. THEIR UNBREAKABLE BOND. AND A NATION ABOUT TO BE BORN.Here is a river..Here is a village..Here is a grand old mansion..Here is the country that contains them all..India. August 1946. Everything is about to change.Priya Jamini and Deepa Dr Nabakumar Ganguly s daughters live in Ranipur Bengal safe from the rising turbulence in the country. When their father is killed on Direct Action Day their world turns upside-down.Priya the youngest intelligent and idealistic is determined to follow in her father s footsteps and become a doctor no matter how difficult. She is fortunate to have the support of zamindar Somnath Chowdhury her father s best friend. Jamini devout dutiful and talented helps her mother stitch kanthas to make ends meet. Hungering for affection even as she is resentful of her sisters she nurses a secret desire. Beautiful Deepa the eldest all set to marry well falls in love with Raza Youth Leader at the Muslim League and must face the consequences.When India is partitioned the sisters find themselves separated from one another afraid of what will happen to not only themselves but also each other. It is only then that they understand what it means to be independent and the price one has to pay for it.Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni s powerful new novel is a moving story of loyalty and love nationhood and sisterhood set against India s independence movement at once exhilarating and devastating. A spellbinding saga of the decolonization and partition of the Indian subcontinent with a cast of vividly drawn compelling characters. AMITAV GHOSH A national movement unsettles a country. Only a powerful imagination can recreate how profoundly it changes three women s lives. NAYANTARA SAHGAL I have long been a fan of Chitra Divakaruni s novels but Independence is now my favorite. LISA SEE.