Summary and Reviews of The Seduction of Silence by Bem Le Hunte

The Seduction of Silence by Bem Le Hunte

The Seduction of Silence

by Bem Le Hunte
  • Critics' Consensus (5):
  • Readers' Rating (1):
  • First Published:
  • Jan 1, 2003, 416 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Mar 2004, 416 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

Both magical and utterly compelling, this spellbinding novel interweaves family sagas with the richness of Indian mysticism, creating an intimate portrait of an unforgettable family.

Infused with the magic of India and the great mysteries of life, The Seduction of Silence follows the spiritual and emotional journeys of a remarkable Indian family through five generations.

Aakash, venerated sage and healer, is the founder of Prakriti -- an abundant farm in the Himalayas. From this soulful mountain home, his children embark on the journeys that will sway the destinies of future generations: gentle son Ram, whose fierce search for enlightenment will force him to choose between his family and his soul; daughter Tulsi Devi, whose convent schooling provides an unexpected, brutal education forever altering her life; Tulsi Devi's beloved first child, Jivan -- born in the waters of the Ganges, cruelly separated from his mother; and Aakash's granddaughter Rohini, who travels across the world on a painted bus to a new land and a new kind of freedom, immersing herself in the London of the 1960s.

With Rohini's daughter, Saakshi, the search for enlightenment comes full circle, and the great-granddaughter returns to her spiritual home -- the holy mountains of Prakriti, where their family story first began. Both magical and utterly compelling, this spellbinding novel interweaves family sagas with the richness of Indian mysticism, creating an intimate portrait of an unforgettable family.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

Washington Post
A lovely… ambitious novel …Le Hunte threads events together with a confident, steady hand.

The Booklover (Australia)
A brilliant new voice on the Australian scene... Le Hunte weaves a spell over her readers.

Booklist - Deborah Donovan
India-born Le Hunte concocts a glorious melange of family saga, social commentary, and treatise on spirituality in her debut novel.

Kirkus Reviews
A splendidly conceived saga weaving the history of an entire culture into the portrait of one family vivid, compelling, utterly fascinating.

Publisher's Weekly
The magic realist touches scattered throughout the novel have won Le Hunte comparisons to Isabel Allende and Salman Rushdie, but Le Hunte has a snappy, more commercial style (when Rohini tells her pregnant daughter to stop complaining, the acid-tongued daughter thinks, Thanks, Mama. Can you remember to tell me your worst birth stories just before I go into labor? We'll put some time aside, OK?)

Author Blurb Geraldine Brooks, author of Year of Wonders and Nine Parts of Desire
There is real enchantment here...[in] prose as vivid and arresting as a marigold. I couldn’t put it down.

Author Blurb Lalita Tademy, author of Oprah Book Club selection Cane River
An unexpected delight... [Le Hunte] gives new meaning to the search for spiritual fulfillment.

Author Blurb Thomas Keneally, author of Schindler's List
A work of persuasive imagination...such scope, power and narrative charm...ample and fascinating.

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