Novel
Giraya
Punyakante Wijenaike · 1971
Synopsis
Married off in haste by a mother short of money, Kamini enters the walauwe, the residence of an old family of notables, and tells of her first year within its walls. Her husband, Lal, raised by the servant Lucia Hamy, keeps the habits of his youth after the wedding and remains closed to her. Lal's mother rules the house, where everyone disputes a share of power with the others; Lucia Hamy makes the young woman tremble, and her own mother sends her talismans against the hostility of her in-laws.
Context
The book was published in Colombo in 1971, by Lake House. Its title names the tool that cuts the areca nut for the betel quid; in the novel, it stands for the power that the servant exercises in the mother's name. Academic criticism has focused on the place held in it by homosexuality, presented in an unfavourable light, and on the superstitions and rites with which the house is filled. The novel was adapted as a serial for the channel ITN by the director of Rekava.
Who it is for
A short novel in English, 137 pages in its first edition, to be read in the original; no French translation.
Prizes and reception
Counted among the three great novels of its author; Rajiva Wijesinha sees in it perhaps the strongest work by a writer living in the country.
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