Last book of Nabaneeta Sen’s Naxal trilogy now in English

Bengali writer Nabaneeta Dev Sen’s last novel of her Naxal trilogy which is a story of two women, two generations and two worlds moulded out of memory, expectations and desires has now been translated into English. Set primarily in the US, "The Parrot Green Saree”, as the title of the English version goes, is also the story of displacement and loss, of a remembered homeland, of political and personal battles, of individual freedom.

Besides, it is about rebirth (in Bengali, the novel was titled "Phoenix”). The book explores the ethical and existential dilemmas of the urban, intellectual Indian, like the two novels that precede it – "I, Anupam” and "In a Foreign Land, By Chance”.

"It looks at political issues through a turbulent mother-daughter relationship, bringing to Indian literature in Bengali, perhaps for the first time, a fascinating, highbrow, sexually daring, ‘unmotherly’ mother of a grown-up daughter,” publisher Niyogi Books said. The novel has been translated by Tutun Mukherjee.

Sen says "The Parrot Green Saree” is a story within a story and carries certain traits of two of her previous novels. She decided to change the title as it "goes deeper into the soul” of the text. "This tale of two generations will reveal how the new title is intrinsically related to the genesis of the story.” PTI ZMN RB

RB