THE PURPLE LINE by Purushotham, Priyamvada N

The year is 1982, the place Madras. Mrinalini sixteen something and swinging moons about the school lab, studying poetry instead of chemistry. And then one day, when she cuts open her first frog in zoology class and sees the ovaries floating in the water like wings, she decides to become a gynaecologist.

Two decades later, within the intimate world of her consultation room, she unearths the stories of six unlikely women whose lives are intertwined without them knowing it: the burqa-clad Zubeida who finds solace in front of the neighbours television and the sari-clad Megha who cannot rest until she has a boy; Tulsi, the budding artist who stands upside down after sex and Anjolie, the fading artist whose splendour lingers wherever she goes; Pooja, the-sixteen-year-old who fell in love and got into trouble and Leela, the twenty-one-year-old who has never fallen because you would have to run with all your heart to fall. As they labour and love, captivate and collide, Mrinalinis own life takes on a deeper significance.

Sensuous, heartbreaking and hilarious,The Purple Lineis above all an audacious exploration of womanhood.

About the Author
Priyamvada N. Purushotham was born in Chennai and has lived in many Indian cities. She has worked as a copywriter at Ogilvy and Mather and taught French and theatre at the Alliance Franaise de Madras. She now lives in Boston, Massachusetts. This is her first novel.