The Splendor of Silence

A Novel

Indu Sundaresan

• Publisher: Atria Books
• Year: 2006
• Topic: Literature
• Print ISBN:
  9780743283687
• Subtopic: Indian Literature
• eBook ISBN:
  9780743293815
• Index: Literature

Set in India during four searing pre-monsoon days in May 1942, The Splendor of Silence is internationally bestselling author Indu Sundaresan's most unforgettable accomplishment yet, merging her Indian and American backgrounds into a heartrending tale of love and clashing cultures in a time of war.

Sam Hawthorne, a twenty-five-year-old U.S. Army captain, arrives at the princely state of Rudrakot in search of his missing brother, Mike, carrying with him wounds from combat in Burma and several secrets. But Sam's mission is soon threatened by the unlikeliest of sources -- he falls hopelessly in love with Mila, daughter of the local political agent. Mila, unexpectedly attracted to Sam, nurtures a secret of her own and finds herself torn between loyalty to her family and Sam.

The Splendor of Silence opens twenty-one years later with Olivia, Sam's daughter, receiving a trunk of treasures from India, along with a letter from an unknown narrator that finally fills all the silences of her childhood -- telling her the story of her parents' passionate and enduring love for each other that throws them in the path of racial prejudice, nationalist intrigue, and the explosive circumstances of a country and a society on the brink of independence from British rule.

Sweeping and poignant, reminiscent of Paul Scott's Raj Quartet novels, The Splendor of Silence will draw a host of devoted new fans to this hugely gifted storyteller.

Table of contents

• Cover
• ALSO BY INDU SUNDARESAN
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Acknowledgments
• April 1963 Somewhere Near Seattle
• At the Cabin
• May 28, 1942 The kingdom of Rudrakot
• Chapter One
• Chapter Two
• April 1942, a Month Earlier Somewhere in Burma
•  
• Chapter Three
• Chapter Four
• Chapter Five
• Chapter Six
• Chapter Seven
• April 1942, a Month Earlier Somewhere in Burma
•  
• Chapter Eight
• Chapter Nine
• Chapter Ten
• Chapter Eleven
• April 1942, a Month Earlier Somewhere in Burma
•  
• Chapter Twelve
• Chapter Thirteen
• April 1942, a Month Earlier Somewhere in Burma
•  
• Chapter Fourteen
• May 29, 1942 Rudrakot, India
• April 1942, a Month Earlier Somewhere in Burma
• Fifteen
• Chapter Sixteen
• Chapter Seventeen
• Chapter Eighteen
• Chapter Nineteen
• Chapter Twenty
• May 30, 1942 Rudrakot, India
• April 1942, a Month Earlier Somewhere in Burma
• Twenty-one
• Chapter Twenty-two
• Chapter Twenty-three
• Chapter Twenty-four
• April 1942, a Month Earlier Somewhere in Burma
•  
• Chapter Twenty-five
• Chapter Twenty-six
• April 1942, a Month Earlier Somewhere in Burma
•  
• Chapter Twenty-seven
• May 31, 1942 Rudrakot, India
• Chapter Twenty-eight
• Chapter Twenty-nine
• Chapter Thirty
• April 1942, a Month Earlier Somewhere in Burma
•  
• Chapter Thirty-one
• Chapter Thirty-two
• Chapter Thirty-three
• April 1963 Somewhere Near Seattle
•  
• Glossary