If you read my blog regularly you know that I enjoy reading. At the library my first stop is always the “new books” display where I most often pick up newly released fiction or cookbooks (totally unrelated genres but I’m addicted to them both). Then I’m off to the children’s library. Finally if I have any time left I venture into the adult area of the library. I usually know what I’m looking for if I make it here. By this time my children have made their book and movie selections and they don’t have much patience left for following me around to browse the boring grown-up books. On a recent rare occasion I ventured into the adult library and walked past a display of young adult books. It has been several years since I’ve stopped to take notice of these books geared toward teenagers. One particular book caught my eye. That book was Keeping Corner by Kashmira Sheth.
In Gujarat, India, during World War I, Mohandas Gandhi has opened an ashram attracting followers to his movement for Indian self-determination. In a nearby village, Leela, 12, married at age nine, looks forward to moving to her husband’s home. When he dies unexpectedly, Brahman custom requires her confinement at home for a year, “keeping corner.” Prohibited from ever remarrying, her head shaved and pretty saris put away, Leela faces a barren future. Her loving family is heartbroken, but only Leela’s brother has the courage to buck tradition, hiring a tutor to educate her. This powerful and enchanting novel juxtaposes Leela’s journey to self-determination with the parallel struggle of her family and community to follow Gandhi on the road to independence from British rule. Among the vivid and appealing characters is India itself. Natural and human cycles—dry and monsoon seasons, landscape and animals, customs religious and secular—are rendered with a rich sensual palate. We leave Leela and her country poised to cross the threshold of autonomy at that enchanting moment when anything seems possible. (Fiction. 12+)
- Kirkus (Starred review, 10/1/2007 issue)
Kashmira Sheth wrote Keeping Corner based loosely on her great aunt’s own life experiences as a child widow in India. In addition to being a beautifully written story, reading Keeping Corner forced me to consider my own traditions. Tradition alone is not a bad thing. Yet within culture we create patterns of behavior that go against God’s will. It is convenient to excuse sin as tradition. Keeping Corner is written from a Hindu perspective and it is about India when she gains independence from British rule but there are spiritual lessons to be learned here as well.
