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Book Summary and Reviews of Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman

Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman

Climbing the Stairs

by Padma Venkatraman

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  • Published:
  • May 2008, 256 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

During World War II and the last days of British occupation in India, fifteen-year-old Vidya dreams of attending college. But when her forward-thinking father is beaten senseless by the British police, she is forced to live with her grandfather's large traditional family, where the women live apart from the men and are meant to be married off as soon as possible.

Vidya's only refuge becomes her grandfather's upstairs library, which is forbidden to women. There she meets Raman, a young man also living in the house who relishes her intellectual curiosity. But when Vidy'?s brother decides to fight with the hated British against the Nazis, and when Raman proposes marriage too soon, Vidya must question all she has believed in.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. [T]his novel vivifies a unique era and culture as it movingly expresses how love and hope can blossom even under the most dismal of circumstances." - Publishers Weekly.

"This is a poignant look at a young woman's vigilance to break from expectations and create her own destiny amid a country's struggle for independence." - School Library Journal.

"The novel excels in its detailed depiction of a Brahmin girlhood and family life during a time of intense social and political change." - Kirkus Reviews.

This information about Climbing the Stairs was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

Shonqeesha

Very boring to read
I thought reading this book was very boring to read and was not relateable to anything in anyone's life. This book did help me fall asleep at night which i sometimes have trouble doing. If your looking to sleep fast, read 2 pages.

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More Information

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More Recommendations

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