Author: Damodar Mauzo
Translator(s)/ Editors(s): Naresh Kavadi
Publisher: Sahitya Akademi
Year: 1990
Language: Marathi
Pages: 247
ISBN/UPC (if available): N/A
Description
Karmelin is the moving saga of a young orphaned girl’s trials and tribulations and of her attempt to break free from the shackles of poverty, and as she grows older, to bring up her daughter in a small gossip-ridden village in South Goa with dignity and self-respect.
The novel follows the fortunes of Karmelin, the protagonist who, let down by a drunken wastrel of a husband and pursued by poverty, bravely maps her own destiny. She is eventually compelled to work as a maid in Kuwait to ensure a better future for her family and to repay old debts.
Leading Konkani writer Damodar Mauzo weaves a moving tale of sexual exploitation, machinations within the family, caste conflicts in the Christian community, sexist Arab bosses, and above all, the bitter-sweet triumphs of Karmelin-al set in the metropolitan location of modern day Kuwait and the lush, verdant landscape of Goa.