The Blue Bedspread (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Raj Kamal Jha
- First Published: 2000
- Type of Work: Novel
- Time of Work: The 1990’s
- Setting: Calcutta, India
- Principal Characters: The narrator, The abusive father, The mother, The sister, The sister’s baby girl, Bhahani
- Genres: Long fiction
- Subjects: Family or family life, Abused persons, Twentieth century, Child abuse, Incest, India or East Indian people, Orphans or orphanages, 1990’s
- Locales: Calcutta, India
Raj Kamal Jha’s first novel, The Blue Bedspread, is a highly original treatment of a familiar subject, the long-lasting effects of childhood abuse, and a familiar set of characters, an abusive father and the wife and children who are his victims. The novel is written in a form that has become increasingly popular, as a series of connected short stories. However, the unnamed narrator’s rationale for writing these stories may well be unique in contemporary fiction: He wishes to send them with his orphaned newborn niece when she is collected by her adoptive parents, perhaps as...
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