Nectar in a Sieve

ABOUT THE BOOK

Married as a child bride to Nathan, a tenant farmer she had never met, Rukmani works side by side in the fields with her husband to wrest a living from a land ravaged by droughts, monsoons, and insects. With fortitude and courage, she fights poverty and disaster.

Written over 70 years ago, Nectar in a Sieve is as relevant now as when it was first published. The story of Rukmani and Nathan is the story of many Indian farmers yesterday and today. This new edition introduces a new generation of readers to a tragic tale made all the more relevant as temperatures soar in India and working the land becomes more and more challenging.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

KAMALA MARKANDAYA (1924 – 2004) was born in Mysore, India. She studied history at Madras University and later worked for a small progressive magazine before moving to London in 1948 in pursuit of a career in journalism. There she began writing her novels; Nectar in a Sieve, her debut published in 1954, was an international bestseller. A contemporary of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and R.K. Narayan, Kamala Markandaya is now being rediscovered as an essential figure in the post-colonial canon.

REVIEWS

‘Nectar in a Sieve has a wonderful quiet authority without reticence or excess' New York Times

'As this book humbles you, you will sympathize with Rukmani, feel her pain, understand her choices, and begin to feel the book take an authority over your heart. It is no wonder that this book is a classic’      India Book Reviews

'Nectar in a Sieve has something better than power the truth of distilled experience’  New York Herald Tribune'

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The Coffer Dams

The Nowhere Man

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