“What the Body Remembers”
by Shauna Singh Baldwin
Published: September 1999
ISBN: 0676972217

(Updated: October 7, 2005.)

From SAWNET…

A novel set around Partition and three characters: Roop is a young girl who is to become the second wife of a wealthy Sikh landowner, Sardarji, whose first wife Satya has failed to bear him children. Roop believes that she and Satya, still very much in residence, will be friends. But the relationship between the older and younger woman is far more complex. And, as India lurches toward independence, Sardarji struggles to find his place amidst the drastic changes. What the Body Remembers is at once poetic, political, feminist, and sensual. It was awarded the Commonwealth Writers Prize for best book from the Canada/Caribbean region, and longlisted for the Orange Prize in fiction.

Another wonderful book. So rich. And dense. And another, yes fictional but very believable, view of "independence".

I highly recommend this book… a 5 out of 5 hearts on my “couldn’t-wait-to-get-back-to-it” scale.