A Silence of Desire

by Kamala Markandaya

He was not himself because his wife was not herself, because in marriage you acted and reacted one upon the other, however much you wished it otherwise, and whether you wanted to or no.' Dandekar is a routine-bound government clerk who is able to provide his family with a comfortable life. But his ordered existence is thrown off course when, one day, he comes home from work to find his wife, Sarojini, missing. On her return she gives him an excuse for her disappearance which he realizes is a lie, further rousing his suspicions. Doubt and mistrust plague him and he puts his career in jeopardy when he begins to trail Sarojini in the hope that he might find her with another man. But when he stumbles across the truth he gets more than he bargained for. In A Silence of Desire Kamala Markandaya explores the tension between the East and the West—between superstition and science, faith and reason, tradition and progress—in a profound manner.

Genres: Indian Literature

253 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Pseudonym used by Kamala Purnaiya Taylor, an Indian novelist and journalist. A native of Mysore, India, Markandaya was a graduate of Madras University, and afterward published several short stories in Indian newspapers. After India declared its independence, Markandaya moved to Britain, though she still labeled herself an Indian expatriate long afterward.

Known for writing about culture clash between Indian urban and rural societies, Markandaya's first published novel, Nectar in a Sieve, was a bestseller and cited as an American Library Association Notable Book in 1955. Other novels include Some Inner Fury (1955), A Silence of Desire (1960), Possession (1963), A Handful of Rice (1966), The Nowhere Man (1972), Two Virgins (1973), The Golden Honeycomb (1977), and Pleasure City (1982/1983).

Kamala Markandaya belonged to that pioneering group of Indian women writers who made their mark not just through their subject matter, but also through their fluid, polished literary style. Nectar in a Sieve was her first published work, and its depiction of rural India and the suffering of farmers made it popular in the West. This was followed by other fiction that dramatized the Quit India movement in 1942, the clash between East and West and the tragedy that resulted from it, or the problems facing ordinary middle-class Indians—making a living, finding inner peace, coping with modern technology and its effects on the poor.

Reviews

[Manu · Rating 3 out of 5]

'A Silence of Desire' is seemingly about the turmoils in the life of a government clerk, after his routine is shattered one day when he finds his wife missing when he returns home from work. Furthermore, he also realises later that the reason she had given for her absence was not the truth. He suspects his wife of infidelity. Much flustered, and not helped by the discussions happening in his office on the social mores of womenfolk, he follows her and finds out something, which to him becomes a more painful thing to bear than what he had initially suspected his wife of. His structured life then goes through a turbulence, as his personal problems begins to affect his work, and even his character undergoes a change.
What makes the book interesting is how the author uses the family to show the upheaval that happened in Indian society after the British left. The spirituality and faith of the traditional Indian housewife collides with the scientific and rational mindset of her British trained husband. The father is disturbed that his teenaged daughter would go to the 'milk bar' with a male friend, even if its in a group. There is even some reference to the conflict between north and south indian civil servants because of their varying approach to problems and fellow workers.
Even as the author manages to create a microcosm of the changes that were sweeping Indian society, her narrative and prose manage to bring out the human aspect in a very convincing manner.

[Eric Raj · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book

A natural flow and easy to follow story. The language used was fantastic.

About the story, Dandaker, was he selfish? selfless? This book would make a great literature text for analysis for different subjects. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.

[Bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good plot but i felt that the writing was too convoluted for my liking.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Markandaya gives us an intense study of a man locked into a spiral of decline brought out by his own suspicions. The story is made all the more poignant by the character's core goodness and his honesty. He struggles, as do we all, to be a better man than he is. As a result, this story draws us in. The ending is immensely satisfying in its believability and the power of the lesson learned by our protagonist.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for my South Asian Women Writers class, and I have to say, I enjoyed it a lot. It was a lot less dynamic than the other books we read, much slower and introspective. I really enjoyed it. It's really an interesting perspective on a marriage, in my opinion.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't remember the story well, but I know I liked this tale of a family and a tragedy.

[Vijay Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

बेहतरीन कहानी एक दिन घर आने पर दांडेकर को उसकी बीवी सरोजिनी घर पर नहीं मिलती बापस आने पर जो कहानी वो कहती है उस पर दांडेकर को विश्वास नहीं
शक और इंसानी फितरत को दर्शा देने वाला उत्तम उपन्यास