In a Forest, a Deer

Congrats @Booksandcooks for reaching a fab Litsy milestone! Thank you for doing a giveaway 💛 My last five-star read was this book of short stories by the South Indian writer C.S. Lakshmi, who goes by the pen name Ambai. Dreamy, poetic stories about feminism, sexuality, religious freedom, & the importance of art & knowledge. #7777giveaway

Megabooks Stacked!! 7y

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batsy

In a Forest, a Deer | Ambai

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It's rare that I give a book of short stories five ⭐. This one is a cohesive whole. Beautifully translated from Tamil by Lakshmi Holmstrom, Ambai's stories are gentle but astute vignettes of Indian life. There is a fierce feminism & egalitarianism in her work, attentive to social injustice. Brimming with references to Tamil culture & Indian epics & myths. Lovingly rendered natural landscapes. Generous & compassionate in its depiction of humanity.

batsy Letter I for #LitsyAtoZ. If you like to explore translated fiction and don't mind not knowing every single reference (if you're not familiar with Tamil culture and Indian epics and languages, certain references require some work), then please read this! 7y

Tamra Lovely! 7y

Kalalalatja Amazing review! 7y

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Cathythoughts Beautiful cover 7y

batsy @Tamra @Kalalalatja Thank you! 7y

batsy @Cathythoughts Yes 💚 7y

Ms_T Beautiful review ❤️ 7y

batsy Thank you @Ms_T 😘 7y

britt_brooke Lovely review (as usual)! 💚 (edited) 7y

batsy @britt_brooke Thank you so much ☺️ 7y

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batsy

In a Forest, a Deer | Ambai

It's been a hectic few days. Today was Deepavali & there was a lot of socialising. I think I went over my monthly quota of people in one day 😆 Also, a lot of eating 😋

Enjoying some quiet time with this now for #LitsyAtoZ and soothing peppermint tea before bed. Just read a few of the stories here so far; they're compassionate, astute snapshots of small town Indian life and beautifully written/translated. #bookandtea #booksandabeverage #riotgrams

erzascarletbookgasm Happy Deepavali! 🙂🎊 7y

Ms_T Sounds like you had a great Deepavali! 🎊🎉 7y

RohitSawant Happy Deepavali! 🎆🎇🎉 7y

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LeahBergen Happy Deepavali!! 7y

batsy @erzascarletbookgasm @LeahBergen Thank you! 😘 7y

batsy @Ms_T I did! 😊 7y

batsy @rohit-sawant Thank you, do you celebrate too? I believe it's today if it's for the North... If so, Happy Diwali :) 7y

shawnmooney Happy Deepavali! Those stories sound great!! 7y

batsy @shawnmooney Thank you! Yes this book of is so beautiful thus far... 7y

Suet624 Gah! People! Give me a gathering with one friend and I'm a happy camper. More than 3 people and I turn into an exhausted mute. 7y

batsy @Suet624 Agreed 100% 7y

RohitSawant @batsy Thank you, and I do! It kicked off on the 18th in my corner of the world. Thankfully I didn't have to socialize yesterday, just went to a live musical concert featuring a prolific Marathi music director with my parents. I enjoyed listening to the anecdotes he shared as much as the music. I do have a day of socializing I'm dreading around the weekend for bhai dooj. 7y

RohitSawant @Suet624 That describes me to a T! 7y

Suet624 @rohit-sawant 💕💕💕 7y

batsy @rohit-sawant The concert sounds like a wonderful time! Glad you enjoyed it. We don't celebrate bhai dooj here (or rather, my family doesn't... We're Tamils from Sri Lanka and honestly the variety of traditions within multiple South Asian diaspora groups is something I haven't fully grasped 😄) But I wish we did, if it means brothers have to give their sisters gifts 😉 Lol 7y

RohitSawant @batsy 😂 Had my cousins been readers they would've been easy to pick gifts for. You can never go wrong with a book. Couldn't agree more about the sprawling range of South Asian traditions being challenging to grasp. I'm actually half South Indian, too. While my mom is a Mumbaikar, her family has roots in Mangalore and Tulu is her native tongue. I wish I was fluent in it, but I only know token phrases. 7y

batsy @rohit-sawant Oh, that's fascinating to know! (As for family and gift-giving, I wish they would understand that all I want are books 😆) I know what you mean re: native languages. I can understand and speak Tamil but can't read/write. It's my biggest shame and regret so the goal is try to learn it soon. 7y

shawnmooney By the way, the books went out in the mail to you in Friday by sea mail! Enjoy! 😍 7y

batsy @shawnmooney Thank you! ❤️❤️ 7y

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