Faint Promise of Rain

A Novel

Anjali Mitter Duva

• Publisher: She Writes Press
• Year: 2014
• Topic: Literature
• eBook ISBN:
  9781938314988
• Subtopic: Literature General
• Index: Literature

Shortlisted for the 2016 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing It is 1554 in the desert of Rajasthan. On a rare night of rain, a daughter is born to a family of Hindu temple dancers just as India's new Mughal Emperor Akbar sets his sights on their home, the fortress city of Jaisalmer, and the other Princely States around it. Fearing a bleak future, Adhira's father, the temple's dance master—against his wife and sons' protests—puts his faith in tradition and in his last child for each to save the other: he insists that Adhira is destined to "marry" the temple's deity and to give herself to a wealthy patron. Thus she must live in submission as a woman revered and reviled. But Adhira's father may not have the last word. Adhira grows into an exquisite dancer, and after one terrible evening she must make a choice—one that will carry her family's story and their dance to a startling new beginning.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Adhira 1611
• 1 Mahendra Summer 1554
• 2 Chandrabai 1555
• 3 Gandar 1556
• 4 Girija 1557
• 5 Gandar 1558 and 1531
• 6 Mahendra 1559
• 7 Chandrabai 1561
• 8 Adhira 1563
• 9 Girija Early 1564
• 10 Hari Dev Mid-1564
• 11 Mahendra Late 1564
• 12 Hari Dev Late 1566
• 13 Chandrabai Early 1567
• 14 Girija Late 1567
• 15 Mahendra 1568
• 16 Gandar and Adhira Summer 1569
• 17 Hari Dev Late Summer 1569
• Adhira 1611
• Author’s Note
• Questions for Discussion
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author