A Portrait of Woman in the Novels of Kamala Markandaya: A Review

Novel is very extensively used and appreciated genre by modern writers. Presently, it has become the dominant literary form all over the world. Hence, ‘wherever literacy has spread the novel - realistic, precise, this-wordly - has swiftly followed. ‘The Art of Fiction’ as Henry James reverently called it, is not reserved for a few initiates. The modern world demands film and television programmes. Indeed it is only through the novel that literature, the unglamorous written word without colour or illustration, is able to compete with its brash competitors of the screen.’1Indian English novel is also glorified by the notable Indian novelists like Nayantara Sahgal, Bharati Mukharji, Kamala Surayya, Mahashweta Devi, Kamala Markandaya etc. The novels written by Indian woman novelist will be the best source to understand the exact condition of women in Indian social and family scenario. Many women novelists have explored the ethical and spiritual predicament of woman in their novels and showed their endeavors to face the challenges of life to achieve a complete harmony in family relations. These writers have created their own recognition in Indian Literature in English by keeping honesty with the art of fiction. According to K.R.S. Iyengar ‘Women are the natural story-tellers even when they don’t write or publish.’2 A women can express the plight of a woman more effectively. Actually, ‘Woman was easily caught in the meshes of intrigue, and social taboos of all kinds and her subservience to man gave her very little freedom of action. Yet she managed to endure somehow, by sheer power of her womanliness – her gifts of beauty, love, patience, compassion and goodness’.