What happens when two young girls find themselves in a family where they can't dream or think freely? The Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins says where there is a will there is a way
What happens when two young girls find themselves in a family where they can't dream or think freely? The Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins says where there is a will there is a way
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Being soft is not being weak. Every female character of Mitali Perkins' new book The Secret Keeper proves it.
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A story set in Kolkata in the 70s, the book takes us through the lives of two young girls Reet and Asha, who arrive in the City of Joy from Delhi with their mother after their father leaves for New York in search of a job.
The Indian economic condition of the period and disparities existing in the Bengali community in Calcutta and New Delhi are taken as the backdrop. For both girls Kolkata turns out to be a cultural shock.
Through small day to day activities, Perkins brings out the conservatism that prevailed in middle-class Bengali families when it came to women.
At that time, Kolkata (then Calcutta) was undergoing a transition and the Bengali intelligentsia was caught in the crossfire of aping the West and maintaining the Eastern tradition.
And Perkins successfully captures it. However that does not deter Perkin's women from following their hearts and minds.
Even Osh's love for the neighbour Jay is innocent but is strong and somewhere sacrificial. Subtle yet poignant Osh's diary is the most interesting aspect of the book and shows what it was to be an ambitious woman in the 1970s Kolkata.
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The Secret Keeper is not a book that would satisfy a literary quest but with lucid language and a free-flowing narrative, it surely makes for an enjoyable read.
In an email interview with The Guide, Perkins shares why despite growing up in places like Ghana, Cameroon, London, Mexico and California, she wanted to tell the story of Osh and Reet set in Calcutta.
How did The Secret Keeper happen?
The book started as a short story called the Fire Escape but evolved into a novel. My family emigrated from India during the 70s, so it's loosely based on that experience. The character of Jay came to mind when my mother told me one of her secrets. She was a teenager growing up in Kolkata, India, much like Asha and Reet, and they had moved to a similar house with extended family. One afternoon, Ma went on the rooftop to let her hair dry in the sun. A window next door flew open, and a neighbour guy started a conversation. It was sweet, innocent perhaps by today's standards, but flirtatious nonetheless, and risky for a girl and boy who could never marry for love. They spoke a few more times, and soon it was clear: he liked her, and she liked him. Somehow, my grandmother found out. Next thing my mother knew, the servants had boarded up the door to the roof, and my grandmother was issuing a stern diatribe about shaming the entire family.
Why the name The Secret Keeper?
I've always been intrigued with the role of secrets in families the deeds and thoughts we hide from each other exert substantial power. Also, every one of us needs someone or some way to keep our secrets safe. For me, that has always involved a sister or a journal, so it was natural to circle the novel around sisterhood and writing.
How much of Mitali is there in the story and the characters?
All my stories have plenty of Mitali-most of the characters, good and not-so-good, are based on me. Asha, however, is probably one character in all of my novels who is more like me.
You present a patriarchal set up but all your female protagonists display a strength of character. Is that a conscious effort?
Not conscious, but I was a third daughter and my gender was a disappointment to most of the family. It could be that early experience continues to influence my writing.
Does your experience of migration somewhere show in Reet and Asha's moving to Kolkata?
Unlike Asha's family, we migrated from Kolkata to Delhi and then lived in Ghana, Cameroon, London, and Mexico before finally settling in California. But as I've talked to other immigrants, the experience of displacement is universal in many ways.
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The Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins, is published By HarperCollins and is priced at R 199. Available at leading bookstores
Extract, page 31
Oh, it's good to have some privacy. Being constantly scrutinizes by Auntie and Grandmother is like having three mas around. Why do they have to comment constantly about how I look, S.K? I've been called 'dark' and 'skinny' so many times, the words should lose their sting, but somehow they don't? What's wrong with being dark anyway? Or being thin? I know the answer, of course: It hinders my chances of snaring a good husband. What would those protesting women who burn their bras in America say about THAT, I wonder?
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