The Toss of a Lemon - Hardcover

"* "The Toss of a Lemon is a captivating novel that in relating the story of one Indian woman and her family tells the story of a changing society. Precisely and deftly written, constantly interesting, morally serious yet sympathetic -- I challenge any reader to start reading this book and give up on it. It joins the company of the great novels on India." (Yann Martel, author of Life of Pi) * "Viswanathan's narrative, refreshingly, is free of anachronism, and she has a pleasing way of engaging the reader's senses - not least with some mouth-watering descriptions of dry and wet curries, pacchadis of yogurt and cucumber.... Deep-fried patties of lentil and chili," and other such delicacies.... Of a piece with the recent works of Vikram Seth, and reminiscent at times of Garcia Marquez---altogether a pleasure." Kirkus starred review"

"Viswanathan . . . achieves something that is in many way more nuanced than the broad brushstrokes of an epic: a meditation on fate's workings in a family dominated by the quiet rule of one woman." The Washington Post Book World

Sivakami was married at ten, widowed at eighteen, and left with two children. According to the dictates of her caste, her headis shaved and she puts on widow's whites. From dawn to dusk, she is not allowed to contaminate herself with human touch, not even to comfort her small children.

Sivakami dutifully follows custom, except for one defiant act: She moves back to her dead husband's house to raise her children. There, her servant Muchamibecomes her public face. Their singular relationship holds three generations of the family together throughthe turbulent first half of the twentieth century, as India endures great social and political change. But as time passes, the family changes, too;Sivakami's son will question the strictures of the very beliefs that his mother has scrupulously upheld.Heartbreaking, exhilarating, and profoundly exotic, The Toss of a Lemon is above allan evocationof the tensions that change brings to every family."Padma Viswanathan has real talent." New York Times Book Review

"[An] exquisite debut novel. . . . [E]lectrifying." Baltimore Sun Padma Viswanathan is a fiction writer, playwright and journalist. Her writing awards include residencies at the MacDowell Colony and the Banff Playwright's Colony, and first place in the 2006 Boston Review Short Story Contest. Shelives withthe poet and translator Geoffrey Brock and their children in Fayetteville, Arkansas."