Inside the Mirror, Parul Kapur
Inside the Mirror, Parul Kapur
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Inside the Mirror

Author: Parul Kapur

Narrator: Deepti Gupta

Unabridged: 15 hr 3 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/07/2024


Synopsis

In 1950s Bombay, Jaya Malhotra studies medicine at the direction of her father, a champion of women’s education who assumes the right to choose his daughters’ vocations. A talented painter drawn to the city’s dynamic new modern-art movement, Jaya is driven by her desire to express both the pain and extraordinary force of life of a nation rising from the devastation of British rule. Her twin sister, Kamlesh, a passionate student of Bharata Natyam dance, complies with her father’s decision that she become a schoolteacher while secretly pursuing forbidden dreams of dancing onstage and in the movies. When Jaya moves out of her family home to live with a woman mentor, she suffers grievous consequences as a rare woman in the men’s domain of art. Not only does her departure from home threaten her family’s standing and crush her reputation but Jaya also loses a vital connection to Kamlesh. Winner of the AWP Prize for the Novel, Parul Kapur’s Inside the Mirror is set in the aftermath of colonialism, as an impoverished India struggles to remake itself into a modern state. Jaya’s story encompasses art, history, political revolt, love, and women’s ambition to seize their own power.

About Parul Kapur

Parul Kapur was born in Assam, India, grew up in the United States, and lives in Atlanta. She is a fiction writer, journalist, and literary critic whose writing has appeared in a number of publications, including Ploughshares, Pleiades, the New Yorker, Art in America, Guernica, Los Angeles Review of Books, and the Paris Review. Kapur holds an MFA from Columbia University and has received fellowships from the Hambidge Center and the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts.

About Deepti Gupta

Deepti Gupta is an Audie award-winning narrator and actress based in Los Angeles. Fluent in Hindi and Urdu, her career spans across India, Singapore, Pakistan, and the United States. She has earned praise from The New York Times for her performance in the feature film Walkaway.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Thomas on July 26, 2024

A novel that takes place in 1950s Bombay about twin sisters Jaya and Kamlesh, this book explores intriguing themes related to gendered oppression, British colonialism, and pursuing art as a career and lifestyle. Those who enjoys stories about sisters coming of age may especially like Inside the Mirr......more

Goodreads review by Ingena on November 14, 2024

Het boek leest als een documentaire, maar dan met zinnen die ook poëzie zouden kunnen zijn. Mijn liefde voor lezen en kunst samen gebracht. “He said he looked for only one thing in art: a surge in emotion that transported him somewhere.” Dat is precies wat dit boek deed: ik heb zelf het gevoel dat ik......more

Goodreads review by Erin on February 29, 2024

This was a wonderful historical fiction novel about 2 sisters (twins) trying to pursue their passions for the arts in 1950's India. They are finding themselves in an oppressive society where women aren't allowed to make their own decisions. Their father wants them to pursue more "professional" caree......more

Goodreads review by A on February 07, 2024

Thank you Netgalley and University of Nebraska Press for my ARC ♥️ I have always been fascinated by Indian literature, and this book has only deepened my love for the genre. Set in 1950s Bombay, the story follows twin sisters Jaya and Kamlesh as they navigate their individual passions and dreams amid......more

Goodreads review by Preeti on February 29, 2024

Jaya and Kamlesh are twin sisters from an upper-middle class Punjabi family. They are living with their parents, widowed grandmother and younger brother in a plush apartment in South Mumbai. It is the 1950s and India has recently secured independence from the British Rule. Punjabi families are just......more


Quotes

"In a masterful performance, Deepti Gupta delivers this story of twin sisters who are torn apart by family mores in 1950s Bombay. Listeners will feel intimately connected to the pain Kamlesh faces as she is pulled between pleasing her father and following her sister. Gupta's eloquent delivery creates an unforgettable audio experience." - Audiofile