The first book published in America by a world-class writer, already
profiled by the New York Times, One Part Woman is a charming and
touching story of a South Indian couple who cannot conceive, and the
extraordinary lengths they go to please their family and try to have a
baby.
Selling over 100,000 copies in India, where it was published first in
the original Tamil and then in a celebrated translation by Penguin
India, Perumal Murugan's One Part Woman has become a cult phenomenon
in the subcontinent, captivating Indian readers and jump-starting
conversations about caste and female empowerment. Set in South India
during the British colonial period but with powerful resonance to the
present day, One Part Woman tells the story of a couple, Kali and
Ponna, who are unable to conceive, much to the concern of their
families--and the crowing amusement of Kali's male friends. Kali and
Ponna try anything to have a child, including making offerings at
different temples, atoning for past misdeeds of dead family members, and
even circumambulating a mountain supposed to cure barren women, but all
to no avail.
A more radical plan is required, and the annual chariot festival, a
celebration of the god Maadhorubaagan, who is one part woman, one part
man, may provide the answer. On the eighteenth night of the festival,
the festivities culminate in a carnival, and on that night the rules of
marriage are suspended, and consensual sex between any man and woman is
permitted. The festival may be the solution to Kali and Ponna's problem,
but it soon threatens to drive the couple apart as much as to bring them
together.
Wryly amusing, fable-like, and deeply poignant, One Part Woman is a
powerful exploration of a loving marriage strained by the expectations
of others, and an attack on the rigid rules of caste and tradition that
continue to constrict opportunity and happiness today.
