Wife (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Bharati Mukherjee
- First Published: 1975
- Type of Work: Novel
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction
- Subjects: 1950’s, 1960’s, 1970’s, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Murder or homicide, Gender roles, New York City, Marriage, Alienation, Immigration or emigration, Multiculturalism, Abortion, India or East Indian people, Television or television broadcasting, Hindus or Hinduism
- Locales: Manhattan, NY, New York, Queens, NY, Calcutta, India
Wife, Mukherjee's second published novel, exemplifies the matter and manner of her early work. Unlike her first novel, The Tiger's Daughter, which is wholly set in India, most of Wife takes place in the United States. With a gentle irony that serves to alleviate and distance an otherwise pathetic protagonist, Mukherjee depicts the mental breakdown of a weak-minded young woman who cannot cope with the traumatic experience of immigration from the structured society of India to the liberated society of New York City.
The opening sentences of the novel introduce...
[The entire page is 1453 words long]
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