A review by barnstormingbooks
Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya

reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Originally published in 1954 Nectar in a Sieve is a bittersweet story of survival and familial love set in the post colonial Indian farm lands. Markandaya does an excellent job of keeping the tone engaging while not glossing over the pain and trials of living in poverty. There is a dignity that is often minimized or even dismissed in many stories that house this level of trauma, loss, pain and struggle. Markandaya does not shy from the pain, instead she brings the reader along to experience and understand the will to live. 

Markandaya understands the white gaze and how her characters will be perceived, she counters this by giving us Kenny, a white doctor who vocalizes all of the critiques lobbed at the working poor, from the wish to have children to the drive to stay on failing farmland. Kenny, is not exactly a beacon of hope, as we see him strive and fail at his endeavors in the same environment if not the same circumstances. 

The rural/urban divide is a potent image, explored at a time when the destitute around the planet were abandoning (or being forced out) of their agrarian roots and into cities. While poor and near starving in both locations, the urban ability to crush hope and breed selfishness is palpable. 

This #BiteSizedBook packs a punch and a life of over 30 years. I would have liked a longer narrative that dove into the lives of the characters and side characters more, but still a powerful read.