A native of Mysore, India, she was a graduate of Madras University, and afterwards published several short stories in Indian newspapers. After India declared its independence, Markandaya moved to Britain, though she still labeled herself an Indian expatriate long afterwards.
Known for writing about culture clash between Indian urban and rural societies, Markandaya's first novel, Nectar in a Sieve was a bestseller, and named a notable book of 1955 by the American Library Association. Other novels include A Silence of Desire, A Handful of Rice, The Nowhere Man, Two Virgins, The Golden Honeycomb, and Pleasure City.
Markandaya's novel, set in 1968, talks not only about the violence of racism but also about other diasporic realities - educational degrees that are not given accreditation, the resistance of immigrants to the expectations of the »host« culture, chasms of communication between generations, cultural values and needless cultural baggage....
She does this by drawing liberally upon Markandaya's own comments on her life and personal conversations with the novelist and is able to explore every facet of Markandaya's creativity from theme and character to language and setting.
Markandaya reminds us that not only are women important and enduring individuals but also that the plight of rural women in developing countries is one that is more often the norm than many of us either realize or appreciate.
KamalaMarkandaya's strength as a novelist comes from her sensitive creation of individual characters and situations which are simultaneously representative of a larger collective.
Kamala Purnaiya was born into a Hindu-Brahmin family in a small town in Mysore in 1924.
Markandaya's novel, set in 1968, talks not only about the violence of racism but also about other diasporic realities - educational degrees that are not given accreditation, the resistance of immigrants to the expectations of the “host” culture, chasms of communication between generations, cultural values and needless cultural baggage....
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