Bem Le Hunte
Author of The Seduction of Silence
About the Author
Bem Le Hunte was born in 1964 in Calcutta, India. She was educated in India and England and is a graduate of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge with a BA in Social Anthropology and a doctorate in English Literature. Her books include The Seduction of Silence and There, Where the Pepper Grows. She works show more at the Centre for Journalism and Media at the University of New South Wales. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: bemlehunte.com/about
Works by Bem Le Hunte
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- Australia
India (birth) - Places of residence
- Calcutta (birthplace)
London, England, UK
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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Reviews
Bem Le Hunte is a British-Indian-Australian author with an international readership. Although born and educated in India and England, her writing career began in Australia when she moved here in 1989. Her first novel, The Seduction of Silence (2001) was shortlisted for the 2001 Commonwealth Writers Prize and her second novel There, Where the Pepper Grows (2006) was widely praised by the likes of Geraldine Brooks and Thomas Keneally. Elephants with Headlights is her third novel, due for release next week on 1/3/20.
The quirky title comes in the prologue from the musings of Siddharth, when he is considering the improbabilities of an India catapulted into an unrecognisable new era. His colleague is enthusing about driverless cars and the prospect of India being the first to have them, but Siddarth—despite being a shrewd futurist is not so sure.
* kajal means to emotionally blackmail someone. (See definition 5 at the Urban Dictionary).
This is the blurb:
It's that collision between east and west, modernity and tradition which makes this novel so fascinating to read, and much of it is very amusing. Neel's mother with her status-conscious ambitions was never going to make it easy for her only son and heir to the family business to marry an Australian girl—and while Mae (who's a Byron Babe with hippie parents) had wanted an Indian wedding, she has no idea at all about the social mores observed by the family she wants to marry into.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2020/02/24/elephants-with-headlights-by-bem-le-hunte/… (more)
The quirky title comes in the prologue from the musings of Siddharth, when he is considering the improbabilities of an India catapulted into an unrecognisable new era. His colleague is enthusing about driverless cars and the prospect of India being the first to have them, but Siddarth—despite being a shrewd futurist is not so sure.
What kind of algorithm or sensor would account for the cow that decided to give birth in front of the Toyota three cars ahead in the traffic jam on the MG Road? Or the cartwheeling, kajalled* child beggars by the side of the road? Or the elephants that returned home down the side streets after attending one of those grand Delhi weddings? Why, they'd only fairly recently passed a law that these elephants would have to wear headlights at night—would they equip the prehistoric beasts with sensors next? (p.vi)
* kajal means to emotionally blackmail someone. (See definition 5 at the Urban Dictionary).
This is the blurb:
...Elephants with Headlights is a collision between east and west, modernity and tradition – between driverless cars and ancient lore – and a world that needs revolutionary reappraisal. In this world, Savitri, named after a Goddess, refuses outright to marry anyone. Her brother, Neel is intent on marrying an Australian girl called Mae, much to the displeasure of their mother, Tota, and father, Siddarth. But do they have the power to command love or destiny? Only the family astrologer, Arunji, knows, yet his truth is tempered by obligations to the family that transformed his life.
It's that collision between east and west, modernity and tradition which makes this novel so fascinating to read, and much of it is very amusing. Neel's mother with her status-conscious ambitions was never going to make it easy for her only son and heir to the family business to marry an Australian girl—and while Mae (who's a Byron Babe with hippie parents) had wanted an Indian wedding, she has no idea at all about the social mores observed by the family she wants to marry into.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2020/02/24/elephants-with-headlights-by-bem-le-hunte/… (more)
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It revels in and indeed celebrates the infinite possibilities that exist at the crossroads where old meets new, and oozes an appealing open-mindedness but also a comforting, sage-like knowing; an acute shrewdness far above any single doctrine or belief system. Continue reading >> https://bookloverbookreviews.com/2020/03/elephants-with-headlights-by-bem-le-hun...… (more)