Difficult Daughters

De: Manju Kapur

Narrado por: Meetu Chilana

Set against the tumult of the 1947 Partition, Manju Kapur's acclaimed first novel captures a life torn between family, desire, and love

The one thing I had wanted was not to be like my mother.

Virmati is the eldest of 11 children, born to a respectable family in Amritsar. Her world is shaken when she falls in love with a married man.

Charismatic Harish is a respected professor and her family's tenant. Virmati takes up with Harish and finds herself living alongside his first wife.

Set in Amritsar and Lahore and narrated by Virmati and her daughter, Ida, a divorcée on a quest to understand and connect with her departed mother, Difficult Daughters is a stunning tale of motherhood, love, and finding one's identity in a nation struggling to discover its own.

Winner of the 1999 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for best first book (Eurasia Region) and shortlisted for the Crossword Book Award in India.

©1998 Manju Kapur (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Vivid portrayal of family life in North India

Ms. Kapur is a wonderful writer whose vivid descriptions take you into the homes and life of a North Indian punjabi family. The writer combines detailed descriptions of food and living spaces with deep insight into what girls growing up in India face. I loved how the book is liberally sprinkled with Hindi and Punjabi names of foods that seem to impart musicality to the writing. Tender yet merciless in its portrayal of the relationship between mothers and daughters, this is a rare book that focuses on women in an Indian family. Ms. Kapur's command of the English language is superb, her writing is lyrical, metaphorical and seemingly effortless. The book represents a coming of age of modern Indian fiction in English.

The book is enriched by the high quality of the narration. Meetu Chilana's speaking voice is perfectly modulated and pitched with a charming Indian accent that enhances the atmosphere of the book. The narrator has a wonderful ability to speak in male and female voices that is quite authentic.