A Partial WomanBy Mina SinghKali For WomenPages: 249Price: Rs 275Debut novels tend to have confessional seepages - those intermittent amateurish passages which betray the author's urgency to offload the baggage of personal memories. Mina Singh's book, surprisingly, has a sense of assuredness. A curious detachment about it, even though it chronicles the rather turbulent life of a spirited and passionate woman who swims against the tide. Set at the turn of the last century in Punjab, this short novel with a fairly wide sweep has a heroine who could well be the precursor of latterday feminists striving to be in charge of their own bodies and lives.Click here to EnlargeWhat propels the protagonist, often into overdrive - and also explains the curious title of the book - is her inability to have a child. It eats into the core of her being but doesn't take away her lust for life and a healthy respect for her sexuality.Trilochan, only one of the four names of the heroine and the one given to her by her mother-in-law, is no female Job, despite the series of disappointments and danger which follows her like a shadow..preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}Singh's descriptions are telling and finely etched. Hindu-Muslim riots form a chilling backdrop to the novel. Singh's training as a writer on architecture and design has obviously come in handy, especially in her description of old havelis. Her detailed portrayal of feudal decadence in her sketch of the obscenely fat Raja Sahib is enthralling.Singh's prose may not be brilliant and at times the structure of the novel may sag. Literary devices like letters are not always cogent. But it is more than competent, with flashes of wit and plenty of humour to offset the sense of futility of the characters in it. The author makes up for the lack of richness with her attention to detail, period and her skill in interweaving historical events into her story.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Mar 23, 1998--- ENDS ---
