Keeping Corner
by Kashmira Sheth
Set in India at the time of Gandhi, Leela is poised to embark on her new life with her husband when he suddenly dies. His death marks her as a widow. Keeping with tradition, Leela must shed all bight, colorful clothes and jewels; shave her head, and remain inside the family home for one year, "keeping corner". Her confinement isn't the worst of it, it is knowing that at age thirteen, she is a widow, considered bad luck with no future, and having a heart-broken family.
Sheth chronicles Leela's year juxtaposed again the revolutionary times of Gandhi. Will change come to India and to her small rural village? And if so, will it provide an opening, an outlet for Leela to learn, grow and love.
