Author: Manjushree Thapa
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 2001
Language: English
Pages: 442
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0141007745
Description
Written with a rare insight into the politics of a nation and of human relationships, this book marks the arrival of a significant new voice from the Subcontinent.
This first major novel in English to emerge from Nepal, The Tutor of History is a portrait of a society in change that is ultimately a story of idealism, alienation and love.
The events of this novel unfold against the backdrop of a campaign for parliamentary elections in the bustling roadside town of Khaireni Tar. At its heart the book is about four main character. Rishi Parajuli, a lonely, unemployed bachelor and a disillusioned communist who gives private tuitions; Giridhar Adhikari, Chairman of the People's Party's District Committee, who suffers from serious alcohol addiction; Om Gurung, a large-hearted and guileless former British Gurkha; and a recluse young widow, Binita Dahal, who runs a small tea shop and is careful not to demand of life more than the meager pleasures it brings her.
'Against the brooding degeneration of a once mythical landscape, Majushree Thapa poignantly evokes the simplicity and strength of small lives: where love peaks in the midst of frustrations, rice field ripen despite urban dereliction, private dignities persist in the face of collapsing public ideals...An evocative glimpse into the truth and turbulence of Nepal.'
--- Anees Jung, author of Unveiling India