A Path And Many Shadows & Twelve Stories

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RAJELAKSHMY (1930-1965) was an eminent novelist, short story writer and poet and the first woman novelist to win the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Oru Vazhiyum Kure Nizhalukalum (A Path and Many Shadows) in 1960. This novel was later serialised on TV and broadcast as a play by All India Radio. Her other notable works of fiction are Njanenna Bhavam (Self-conceit) and Uccha Veyilum Ilam Nilavum (The Noon Sun and Soft Moonlight). Her short fiction was published in the weekly Mathrubhumi and the monthly Mangalodayam, two of the most prestigious literary journals of the period. Rajelakshmy committed suicide in 1965, leaving behind fragments of an unpublished novel.

R. K. JAYASREE retired as associate professor of English literature after a long career of 27 years teaching in various government colleges in Kerala. She has published numerous translations of Malayalam short stories in English, and two English-language books in Malayalam - Paulo Coelho's The Winner Stands Alone and Jack London's Short Stories.

A Path and Many Standoas is a Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award winning novel by Rajelakshmy. It is the story of a girl growing up in southern India in the 1950s and how she blossoms as an individual. We are shown the formative years of Mani, who encounters a society that is deeply patriarchal. We read about her choices and mistakes, her desires and failings, and the ultimate realisation that liberation lies in pursuing what one's heart desires, come what may.

Rajelakshmy, one of Kerala's prominent writers, committed suicide in 1965. And now, fifty years later, R. K. Jayasree resurrects her fictional world in the English language. The themes dealt with here- questioning faith, battling oppression, facing desire, choosing death-continue to speak to the world today.

This book, which includes twelve short stories, contains a critical introduction that shows how Rajelakshmy's fiction lays bare the working of the writer's mind. It will interest students of literature, gender studies and translation, and the general reader interested in fiction.

**Contents and Sample Pages**