Judith Teitelman
This novel reflects a range of life-long interests and personal passions, most especially that of eastern philosophies and perspectives overall and the Hindu God Ganesha, in particular.
The significant spark that conceived the gist of this story was finding out, at the family lunch following my grandmother's funeral, that she had been abandoned at the altar by her true love when she was 17 years old. I only knew my grandmother as a mean-spirited, bordering on nasty, woman. It was difficult and unpleasant to be around her. I attributed that her experiences as a Jewish woman during WWII—having to give up two daughters, leave her husband and home, struggle to survive, etc.—had hardened her irreparably.
But, no, it had been love. More precisely, lost love, devastated love, abandoned love—something most of us experience at one time or another—that had made her callous, unyielding, relentless, and self-absorbed the rest of her life. This informed all her actions. Yet also, and importantly, it made her a survivor.
Consequently, in a nutshell, though the route was quite circuitous and often unwieldy, filled with a lot of internal resistance, I felt compelled to honor her and this all too common, even universal experience. But, equally, I felt it important to situate her story in the largest context possible—reflected by, and with the views and insights and perspectives of not just an omnipotent narrator, but a Hindu God.
The significant spark that conceived the gist of this story was finding out, at the family lunch following my grandmother's funeral, that she had been abandoned at the altar by her true love when she was 17 years old. I only knew my grandmother as a mean-spirited, bordering on nasty, woman. It was difficult and unpleasant to be around her. I attributed that her experiences as a Jewish woman during WWII—having to give up two daughters, leave her husband and home, struggle to survive, etc.—had hardened her irreparably.
But, no, it had been love. More precisely, lost love, devastated love, abandoned love—something most of us experience at one time or another—that had made her callous, unyielding, relentless, and self-absorbed the rest of her life. This informed all her actions. Yet also, and importantly, it made her a survivor.
Consequently, in a nutshell, though the route was quite circuitous and often unwieldy, filled with a lot of internal resistance, I felt compelled to honor her and this all too common, even universal experience. But, equally, I felt it important to situate her story in the largest context possible—reflected by, and with the views and insights and perspectives of not just an omnipotent narrator, but a Hindu God.
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