Press Release Excerpt for Where Monsoons Cry
LALITA NORONHA’S DEBUT PLACES HER ALONGSIDE JHUMPA LAHIRI AND ARUNDHATI ROY, IN CRAFT AND COURAGE.
Like a Bombay version of John Updike, poet and scientist Lalita Noronha has crafted a debut short story collection, that blends elements of Indian traditions with the complexities of American culture. “A beautiful, heartbreaking collection of stories from a gifted new writer,” says Sujata Massey, author of The Samurai’s Daughter. Where Monsoons Cry is both sensual and magical, painting stories—some linked—that read like luminous poems of love, loss, heartache and courage.
“This book has heart and haught. I was moved by the passion and the politics. I knew that before I made the transition out of book publishing, Monsoons had to be published,” says publisher Kwame Alexander. Where Monsoons Cry is about migrant Indian women who leave home—the physical and emotional space of home—be it a village, or a country, for the unknown. The stories are braided together portraying women characters that are in turn feminist but also subservient; they are naïve and lonely, but also shrewd, strong, and joyful. At the core of this book is the dark tradition of female children being undervalued, especially among the uneducated in India: “Girls are like deep wells of sorrow,” a mother says, “into which you throw hard earned coins. A little splash, a wedge of light glinting, and the money sinks, leaving nothing but a ripple, sting of metal on water.”
WYPR, The Signal (May 29th, 2014)
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WYPR, The Signal (October 3rd, 2008)
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WYPR, The Signal (March 2nd, 2007)
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“Fish Out of Water” from India Currents (March 7th, 2005)
“Book Doctors” excerpt from Mantram Magazine (May 2005)
“Shades of Love and Longing” Interview from India Post (June 7th, 2005)
Tehzib Book Review (Summer/Fall 2005)
Urbanite Review of “Where Monsoons Cry” (March 2005)
The Baltimore Sun (March 2005)
The Towson Times (December 2004)
Lalita Noronha 