Shiva's Fire

by Suzanne Fisher Staples

Overview

Born during the worst storm ever seen by her small village in India, Parvati is both blessed and cursed with mysterious powers that confound her family and the people she meets. Wild animals flock to her; she is able to charm fish, birds, even deadly cobras. But Parvati's truly exceptional talent is her ability to dance like the Hindu god Shiva himself. At age 6, she hurls herself into a cooking fire and dances safely through the flames, emerging without a single burn. Naturally, these powers scare the other villagers. Only her mother Meenakshi loves and believes in her, protecting her from the their curious and hostile stares. The guru Pillai, a famous Indian dance teacher, hears of Parvati's talent and comes to offer her a position in his dance school, or "gurukulam," in the large city of Madras. Once there, she questions her destiny, or "dharma," as she experiences both a devastating loss and a blossoming romance; "...she thought about the mystery of dharma--how some things were very difficult to accept, while others opened as simply and as naturally as a flower." But through it all, the fire of Shiva burns within her, and Parvati knows that, despite all other callings, she was born to dance.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940012633798
Publisher:	Mercer Arts and Letters, LLC
Publication date:	02/10/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	819 KB

About the Author

Suzanne Fisher Staples was born in Philadelphia, and grew up in Northeastern Pennsylvania. After graduating from college she became a foreign news reporter in Hong Kong, where she worked for United Press International. She moved to India and became the chief of UPI’s South Asia bureau, where she reported on the news from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. She moved back to the United States and went to work for The Washington Post on their foreign news desk. She returned to Pakistan to work on a literacy project, and spent time in the Cholistan Desert, where she met semi-nomadic herdsmen whose stories became the basis for her award-winning first novel, Shabanu Daughter of the Wind, and two sequels, Haveli and The House of Djinn. She currently lives on a farm in northeastern Pennsylvania, where she is at work on a screenplay and another novel, her ninth.

Editorial Reviews

Using language the way artists use paint, Staples writes with brilliant detail and mixes magic realism with hardscrabble poverty as she tells Parvati's story. A unique offering.

staff editorial review