Faint Promise of Rain

Shortlisted for the 2016 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing

“Faint Promise of Rain is a gorgeous book, a story that is at once spare and lush, wrenching and restoring. The characters are so fully realized, so keenly nuanced, that they linger with you long after the last page, like the sweet smell of a recent storm.”
—Bret Anthony Johnston, author of Remember Me Like This and Director of Creative Writing at Harvard University

It is 1554 in the desert of Rajasthan, and a new Mughal emperor is expanding his territory. In a family of Hindu temple dancers a daughter, Adhira, must carry on her family’s sacred tradition. Her father, against his wife and sons’ protests, insists Adhira “marry” the temple deity and give herself to a wealthy patron. But after one terrible evening, she makes a brave choice that carries her family’s story and their dance to a startling new beginning. Told from the perspective of this exquisite dancer and filled with the sounds, sights and flavors of the Indian desert, Faint Promise of Rain is the story of a family and a girl caught between art, duty, and fear in a changing world.

Author: Anjali Mitter Duva

Publication Date: October 7, 2014

Categories: Audiobooks, Fall 2014, Fiction, Historical Fiction

Description
About the Author

Description

Shortlisted for the 2016 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing

“A compelling story of loss and valor that takes readers on an unexpected journey to the secret world of temple dancers in ancient India.”
—Shona Patel, author of Teatime for the Firefly

“Powerful and beautiful, Anjali Mitter Duva’s Faint Promise of Rain deftly balances faith and passion, fear and hope, destiny and will. Duva’s expert eye takes us to 16th century India where dance calls forth the divine and unforgettable characters give us ‘memories of things to come.’ Past, present, and future all overlap in a perfect timeless story.”
—Marjan Kamali, author of Together Tea

“Faint Promise of Rain gives an atmospheric, compassionate look into the hidden world of a temple dancer’s family. Anjali Mitter Duva had me spellbound throughout this suspenseful coming of age novel that delivers a rich, satisfying ending.”
—Sujata Massey, author of The Sleeping Dictionary

“Faint Promise of Rain is a gorgeous book, a story that is at once spare and lush, wrenching and restoring. The characters are so fully realized, so keenly nuanced, that they linger with you long after the last page, like the sweet smell of a recent storm.”
—Bret Anthony Johnston, author of Remember Me Like This and Director of Creative Writing at Harvard University

“First-time novelist Duva describes the sacred dances so vividly that the reader can almost hear the dancers’ feet hitting the floor and the tinkling of ankle bells. Historical fiction readers with an interest in non-Western cultures will find much to treasure in this evocative journey to the Indian desert.”
—Library Journal

About the Author

Anjali Mitter Duva is a writer who grew up in France and has family roots in Calcutta. She is a co-founder of Chhandika, an organization that teaches and presents India’s classical kathak dance. Duva graduated from Brown University and completed her master’s degree in city planning at MIT. She lives near Boston with her husband and two daughters. Faint Promise of Rain is Duva’s first novel. She is working on the second, set in 19th-century Lucknow.