Independence by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Summary

India, 1947. In a rural village in Bengal live three sisters, daughters of a well-respected doctor.

Priya: intelligent and idealistic, resolved to follow in her father's footsteps and become a doctor, though society frowns on it.

Deepa: the beauty, determined to make a marriage that will bring her family joy and status.

Jamini: devout, sharp-eyed, and a talented quiltmaker, with deeper passions than she reveals.

Theirs is a home of love and safety, a refuge from the violent events taking shape in the nation. Then their father is killed during a riot, and even their neighbors turn against them, bringing the events of their country closer to home.

As Priya determinedly pursues her career goal, Deepa falls deeply in love with a Muslim, causing her to break with her family. And Jamini attempts to hold her family together, even as she secretly longs for her sister's fiancé.

When the partition of India is officially decided, a drastic--and dangerous--change is in the air. India is now for Hindus, Pakistan for Muslims. The sisters find themselves separated from one another, each on different paths. They fear for what will happen to not just themselves, but each other.

 
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Book Setting: Kolkata, India

  1. Ranipur 

  2. Baduria

  3. Calcutta Medical College

  4. Metro INOX

  5. P.C. Chandra Jewellers

  6. Sealdah Railway Station

  7. Victoria Memorial

  8. Chowringhee

  9. New Market

  10. Park Circus

  11. Nahoum’s and Sons 

  12. Agarwal’s

  13. American Library

  14. Drexel University College of Medicine 

  15. Park Circus Mosque

  16. Bardhaman

  17. Dacca University 

  18. Bahadur Shah Park

  19. Korail Basti

  20. BAF Kurmitola Cantonment

  21. Satkhira

Reviews

“A powerful, gripping, and beautifully told story of three women navigating the crossroads of history. Divakaruni's eye is both unflinching and deeply compassionate, encompassing all the complexities of the sisters' lives. I couldn't put it down.”

— Madeline Miller, New York Times bestselling author of Circe and Song of Achilles

“The title Independence refers not only to the Indian freedom struggle but to women’s struggle for freedom. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, who teaches creative writing at the University of Houston, has written a powerful novel that will resonate across cultures. Three Sisters, with its Chekhovian echo, would be a good title as well.”

 — New York Journal of Books

“A spellbinding saga of the decolonization and partition of the Indian subcontinent, with a cast of vividly drawn, compelling characters.”

 — Amitav Ghosh, award-winning author