Sonora Jha follows up her critically acclaimed novel The Laughter with a delightfully incisive romance about a feminist scholar looking for love.
In her mid-fifties, after a near-decade of self-described revolutionary solitude, the narrator of Intemperance is “now seeking communion with a man, despite everything we know.” It’s a shocking realization. She is, after all, an academic expert in the topics of masculinity and feminism. She’s also twice divorced. Which is to say that she knows deeply what she’s opening herself up to: gendered dynamics and the havoc that they can wreak on a woman’s life. But that’s the funny thing about loneliness. It has a way of scrambling facts and feelings together, leaving our narrator with the task of sorting it all out. And she does so by planning a swayamvar; a matrimonial tradition where male suitors compete for a bride’s hand.
As a distinguished professor, respected by colleagues, the public, and students alike, she expects a backlash of both anger and laughter. What kind of a feminist is she? And while this does come, so too does the support, which is a complete, albeit a welcome, surprise. It arrives from friends, from her son, from acquaintances, from the internet, and from the talk shows that pick up those internet headlines. But it’s the Hindu goddesses and princesses of the past that add a layer of unexpected significance. For it’s these women who challenge, encourage, and confuse the narrator as she grapples with her decision to host a contest of feats of wills and strength. Is she making the right choice? Will anyone show up to her swayamvar? Will this announcement change her life for better or worse?
Intemperance is a deep and honest meditation on love, aging, gender, and partnership. At its core, Jha’s latest is a whimsical tale of joy and freedom. The message being that love – and the search for it – can be a feminist act. And that’s something worth celebrating.
Image Via HarperVia
