false 2694064 5 In a fiction debut to rival <b>The God of Small Things</b>, Padma Viswanathan gives us a richly detailed and intimate vision of an India we've never seen.<br><br>Inspired by her family history, Padma Viswanathan brings us deep inside the private lives of a Brahmin family as the subcontinent moves through sixty years of intense social and political change. At the novel's heart is Sivakami, a captivating girl-child married at ten to an astrologer and village healer who is drawn to her despite his horoscope, which foretells an early death -- depending on how the stars align when their children are born. All is safe with their daughter's birth, but their second child, a son named Vairum, fulfills the prophecy: by eighteen, the child bride Sivakami is a widow with two young children.<br><br>According to the dictates of her caste, her head is shaved and she must don the widow's white sari. From dawn to dusk, she is not allowed to contaminate herself with human touch, not even to comfort her small children. She dutifully follows custom, except for one act of rebellion: she insists on a secular education for her troubled son. While her choice ensures that Vairum fulfills his promise in a modernizing India, it also sets Sivakami on a collision course with him. Vairum, fatherless in childhood, childless as an adult, rejects the caste identity that is his mother's mainstay, twisting their fates in fascinating and unbearable ways.<br><br><b>The Toss of a Lemon</b> is heartbreaking and exhilarating, profoundly exotic and yet utterly recognizable in evoking the tensions that change brings to every family's doorstep. It is also the debut of a major new voice in world fiction. 2719393 1 4 2008 The Toss of a Lemon total:328|5:82|4:120|3:88|2:26|1:12| 328 1218 833 135 5 2 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 09 13:26:44 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 09 13:37:03 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 2 false false Mon Jan 05 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Dec 02 08:33:50 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 06 06:01:19 -0800 2009
The novel traces history through the lens of a family which...more...]]> 1 4 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Nov 25 16:39:26 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 25 17:01:12 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 2 false false Sat Jan 24 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 06 08:30:18 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 23 22:17:28 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Sep 24 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 30 04:46:02 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 24 17:23:26 -0700 2008
The novel follows...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Aug 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 10 16:27:35 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 15 08:12:29 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 06 08:53:03 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 17 15:18:36 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu Jun 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat May 30 19:25:03 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 11 09:55:38 -0700 2009
It r...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 12 17:23:54 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 30 16:41:21 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 31 10:34:25 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 01 08:08:03 -0700 2009 1
I've never read anything like The Toss of a Lemon. And, I will admit to being woefully ignorant about the life and times of Brahmins in 19th and 20th century India. However, after reading this story, I feel a bit more educated and knowledgeable ab...more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Jun 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 25 06:16:42 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 25 06:21:27 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Jul 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 06 11:32:45 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 10 12:34:03 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Mar 21 09:57:53 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 21 10:12:45 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Aug 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 27 17:31:30 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 08 21:46:53 -0700 2009
I like how effortlessly Padma w...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jan 07 19:16:31 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 19:23:51 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 16 20:22:18 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 31 11:12:13 -0700 2009
The story begins in 1896 southeastern...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Nov 05 05:09:06 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 05 05:14:55 -0800 2009
I enjoyed it, alth...more...]]> 4 2 false false Thu May 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Dec 14 21:31:52 -0800 2008 Sun May 17 21:19:52 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Nov 15 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Sep 21 15:55:41 -0700 2008 Sat Nov 15 10:01:16 -0800 2008 1
Viswanathan does a bea...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Sep 06 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 14 00:19:39 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 14 00:20:18 -0700 2008 more...]]>