Twelve-year-old Rukmani will follow the tradition of her culture and will marry a man she has never met. As time passes their connection deepens and their relationship grows and they find love. Their family grows with sons and a daughter. Then the evenness of this life is challenged when a tannery is built on the land they had been farming. Now the routines and the peacefulness are ripped away. Rukmani is threatened by all of the changes. A white doctor named Kenny has been serving the villagers for years and he too is watching the impact of the tannery on their lives. Kenny and Rukmani share their feelings, their fears and support each other as they endure the trials of modern life.
212 pages 978-0451531728 Ages 14 and up
Keywords: women, traditions, marriage, relationship, love, family, change, accepting change, dealing with fears, connection, honesty, East Indian, diverse books, classic, 14 year old, 15 year old, 16 year old, 17 year old, farm
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The acclaimed million-copy bestselling novel about a woman’s struggle to find happiness in a changing India.
Married as a child bride to a tenant farmer she had never met, Rukmani works side by side in the field with her husband to wrest a living from a land ravaged by droughts, monsoons, and insects. With remarkable fortitude and courage, she meets changing times and fights poverty and disaster.
This beautiful and eloquent story tells of a simple peasant woman in a primitive village in India whose whole life is a gallant and persistent battle to care for those she loves—an unforgettable novel that “will wring your heart out” (Associated Press)
