The Blue Bedspread
 1999 Picador ed. | |
| Author | Raj Kamal Jha |
|---|---|
Publication date | 1999 |
| ISBN | 9780330373852 |
The Blue Bedspread is the 1999 first novel by Indian writer Raj Kamal Jha.[1][2]
In the novel an old man sits up all night in Calcutta writing for his dead older sister's newborn child, who is sleeping in the next room and will be taken the next day by adoptive parents.[2] He says "I will tell you happy stories and I will tell you sad stories. And remember, my child, your truth lies somewhere in between".[2] The book has been described as "the most tender, sensuous and beguiling book about incest and child abuse you'll ever read".[3]
A 2007 paper by Alex Barley in Narrative Inquiry used this novel and Anita Desai's Fire on the Mountain to consider "the idea of home as a space of sanctuary and retreat from the problems of domestic life".[4]
Reception
[edit]Upon release, The Blue Bedspread was generally well-received among the British press.[5]
In 2022 The Blue Bedspread was selected as one of the 70 titles for the Big Jubilee Read, a celebration of Commonwealth writing for the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ Bose, Sudip (11 April 2000). ""The Blue Bedspread" by Raj Kamal Jha". Salon. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
- ^ a b c "The Blue Bedspread by Raj Kamal Jha". BookDragon. Smithsonian Institution Asian Pacific American Center. 26 July 2000. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
- ^ Hickling, Alfred (15 August 2003). "Review: If You Are Afraid of Heights by Raj Kamal Jha". The Guardian.
- ^ Barley, Alexandra (6 November 2007). "Home as sanctuary: Stories of secrets and sadness in Fire on the Mountain and The Blue Bedspread". Narrative Inquiry. 17 (1): 119–139. doi:10.1075/ni.17.1.09bar.
- ^ "Books of the moment: What the papers said". The Daily Telegraph. 26 June 1999. p. 64. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
- ^ "A literary celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's record-breaking reign". BBC. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
External links
[edit]- "The Blue Bedspread [extracts]". The Guardian. 3 March 2000.
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