Synopses & Reviews
The eldest of seven children,born low-caste and female in rural India,Mamta is abused and rejected by a father whocan see no reason to “water someone elses garden” until ahusband is found for her. Seeking escape in matrimony, Mamta beginsher wedded life with hope—but is soon forced to flee her village and thehorrors of her arranged marriage to the bustle of a small city. Saved from becomingone of the nameless and faceless millions of rejected humanity by thesalvation of sublime love, Mamta struggles to find a precarious state ofacceptance and make peace with her past.
Powerfully affecting and uplifting, set against a vivid and colorful backgroundof Eastern life, Dipika Rais Someone Elses Garden transcends geographicaldivides and cultural chasms to brilliantly expose the commonalityof the human condition, compelling us to seek answerswithin ourselves to humanitys eternalquestions: Is life random?Do we have a destiny?
Review
“In the manner of Rohinton Mistrys A Fine Balance, this is a multigenerational tale of Indian life. . . . A universal story of good-versus-evil and tradition-versus-modernity as well as of the redemptive power of belief.” Booklist
Review
“Dipika Rai turns rural India into a setting for an epic tale of love and loss that feels timeless and familiar.” Jamal Mahjoub, author of < i=""> The Drift Latitudes <> and < i=""> Travelling with Djinns <>
Review
“Beautifully written. . . . [With] depth of feeling.” < i=""> Publishers Weekly <>
Review
“A brave and ambitious first novel set in rural India, Someone Elses Garden deals frankly with the brutality faced by many women and tells the story of how one woman achieves redemption.” Sam Miller, author of < i=""> Delhi, Adventures in a Megacity <>
Synopsis
In the vein of Thrity Umrigars The Space Between Us, Dipika Rais soulful debut novel is a moving multi-generational tale of mothers and daughters in rural India struggling to break free of the social traditions fencing them in. Standing out among works by Shobhan Bantwal, Chitra Divakaruni, and other emerging Indian writers, Rais Someone Elses Garden offers a rare look at life in the Indian countryside, far from the more well-trafficked literary settings of New Delhi and Mumbai, in an evocative, atmospheric story of one womans soulful fight to take control of her life.
About the Author
Dipika Rai was born, raised, and educated in India. She worked as a freelance journalist for many years, writing for various publications around the globe. She divides her time between India and the island of Bali, where she lives with her husband, two children, and her devoted pets. This is her first novel.