Praise
The clash between tradition and modernity…the lure of transgression and of nostalgia…These recur as themes in many stories that examine a woman's struggle to define her identity in changing times. Yet Ambai upends the image of oppression…For some women, journeys—meaningful, necessary, planned, or spontaneous—end in epiphany; others find contentment at home. Fresh, graceful stories create a palpable world.
Ambai's stories explore the nuances of personal relationships, complex networks of emotions, and mingle themselves insightfully.
Ambai's stories...are boldly experimental, pointing to the real source of the best Indian fiction in the vernacular languages. She makes use of polyphony, fragmentation and multiple persepctives, and her translator succeeds in capturing her technical virtuosity.
Ambai brings to bear upon her tales the weight of her knowledge of the mythic, literary and Puranic...A felicity of language and the easy flow of words make the translation a pleasure to read.
Ambai excels in making physical movements parallel the progression in her stories...Lakshmi Holmstrom has been able to settle down so comfortably with the psyche of Ambai, that her translations of the latter's Tamil writings have the easy flow of the original.