Coming-of-age novel set in British occupied India during WWII
KINGSTON, R.I. 鈥揂pril 3, 2008鈥擜 溏心vlog免费B站 adjunct professor of oceanography鈥檚 debut novel Climbing the Stairs (Putnam, 256 pages, $16.99) is already climbing the charts and its official publishing date isn鈥檛 until May. Booklist鈥檚 April 15 issue will give it a starred review and Booksense will call it a notable pick for the month of May.
In a letter that accompanied a special galley mailing of the novel, Douglas Whiteman, executive vice president of Penguin, called the book 鈥� a beautifully written story of love, loss and the power of one鈥檚 beliefs鈥� and a 鈥渢ruly special book鈥� which is 鈥渇ascinating and heart-breaking, but redeeming at the same time.鈥� See attached schedule for author appearances and events.
Although this is her debut novel, Padma Venkatraman has penned 20 other books on a variety of subjects for adults and children. She has plenty of story ideas, but not enough time to write them.
Writing isn鈥檛 her only vocation. In addition to being an adjunct oceanography professor, she鈥檚 the director of the Office of Graduate Diversity Affairs. And she and her husband, Rainer Lohmann, an assistant chemical oceanographer at 溏心vlog免费B站, are new parents.
鈥淚鈥檓 really most grateful to Lynn Pasquerella, departing vice provost at 溏心vlog免费B站, for her support of my flexible schedule,鈥� says the author.
Venkatraman came to the United States when she was 19 to pursue a graduate degree. She earned her doctorate in oceanography at The College of William and Mary School of Marine Science and conducted post-doctoral research at Johns Hopkins University鈥檚 Whiting School of Engineering. She lived in Germany and England after earning her degrees and prior to becoming an American citizen.
Yet her novel isn鈥檛 about oceanography, engineering, or living in Europe. It鈥檚 about a young female adolescent growing up in India where Gandhi is leading a nonviolence movement to Indian independence while World War II rages on.
Everyone told the novelist not to take the time to title the book since publishers always change it. She did and they didn鈥檛.
鈥淚 think the title works on many levels,鈥� says Venkatraman from her North Kingstown home. 鈥淭he 15-year-old protagonist lives in a restricted household and is forbidden to go upstairs to the library because she is a female. She sneaks into the library anyway. Her climb is to womanhood and personal freedom. It鈥檚 also about India鈥檚 freedom from colonization to independence.鈥�
The book is based loosely on her mother鈥檚 experiences as a teen-ager during World War II in the final years of British-occupied India.
鈥淢y mother was very impressed with India getting its independence. Now, at 76, she is still upset that she never got to hear Gandhi speak. She wasn鈥檛 allowed, although some women were.鈥�
Venkatraman鈥檚 research unearthed a lot of Indian history that isn鈥檛 common knowledge, which she incorporated into the book. She also interviewed a number of people who lived in India during that time period.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that I understood how difficult it was in British India with signs that read 鈥榳hites only鈥�. I was aware of racial inequality in South Africa and apartheid, but not really aware of the racial inequality in India.鈥�
The author also interviewed her mother. 鈥淯ntil I wrote this book, I didn鈥檛 fully realized how much my mother experienced and overcame,鈥� says the 38-year-old writer.
Her mother, Ambujam Venkatraman, has always been her role model. She is a lawyer, not a practicing one, but a well-respected author of law books and chief editor of legal journals.
The professor remembers watching her mother struggle as a woman and as a woman in her field. 鈥淪he did in her generation what women were starting to do in mine,鈥� she says, admiringly.
She was also an indulgent mother when Padma, one of four children, was growing up. 鈥淚 was writing and making up stories and poetry everyday and my mother thought everything I wrote was fantastic. But the best thing was that she didn鈥檛 push me toward writing or any other direction. She was just enthusiastic without making me feel I had to get a degree in English literature rather than one in science.鈥�
Climbing the Stairs is being promoted primarily as a young adult novel with cross-over appeal for adults. The author, however, believes the book will appeal to a wider audience. Many books, Catcher and the Rye, The Secret Life of Bees, and Kite Runner to name a few have teen-age protagonists.
She sold her second novel last year. Although it鈥檚 not autobiographical, it comes closer to her own experiences as a researcher on India鈥檚 islands of Andaman and Nicobar. The publisher has asked for a few revisions. 鈥淚鈥檒l do it,鈥� this modern day Renaissance woman says with a laugh, 鈥淲hen I get the time.鈥�
To learn more about the author and the book visit the author鈥檚 website, http://www.cliofindia.com/padma, for her blog go to http://padmasbooks.blogspot.com/, and for the summary page go to http://www.padmasbooks.com/.
Climbing the Stairs is available for pre-order through amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com and should be available at chains and independent bookstores nationwide by May 2008. Check http://www.booksense.com for independent bookstore locations.
Climbing the Stairs
A list of the author鈥檚 appearances in the area
May 1: 3 to 5 p.m. The Other Tiger Bookstore, 90 High St. Westerly, R.I.
May 6: noon to 2 p.m. 溏心vlog免费B站 Multicultural Center, 74 Lower College Rd, Kingston.
May 17: 2 p.m. Barrington Books, 184 County Rd., Barrington, R.I.
May 18: 2 p.m. Front Street Books, 88 Front St., Scituate, Mass.
May 31: 2 p.m. Books on the Square, 471 Angell St., Providence, R.I.