What the Body Remembers

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

This novel’s main plot revolves around an upper-middle class Sikh
household in Punjab just prior to India’s independence. The British
still rule, but the sun is undeniably setting on their once mighty
empire. As Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs jockey to fill the power gap,
their machinations are paralleled by those that take place in this one
Sikh family.

Sardarji, a wealthy middle-aged landowner, has brought home a
16-year-old girl as his second wife because Satya, his first wife, has
failed to produce children. Although resentful of British authority, he
still expects traditional obedience from both wives. From Satya, he
receives nothing but spite and fury. Roop, the second wife, is initially
submissive, but she eventually learns to use her own children as
fulcrums to leverage herself above Satya as the dominant wife. The theme
of this novel is the struggle of the individual against society. Both
Roop and Satya rebel against the traditional chattel-like existence that
women in India are expected to endure.

Shauna Singh Baldwin’s densely packed prose is rife with black humor
and recurring symbols. At the beginning of the novel, Satya deliberately
swallows an apricot stone after hearing of her husband’s second
marriage; as the story progresses, Satya’s personality turns
completely stone-hard. Sardarji’s daily routine and demeanor are
guided by Cunningham, an imaginary Englishman whose voice fades as the
British presence in India slowly evaporates. While the main characters
of Roop, Sardarji, and Satya are exquisitely drawn, the European
characters are slightly more vague—like Cunningham, they seem to be
more ethereal than imperial. Baldwin’s portrayal of the actual horrors
of the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan should give Canadians some
sobering insights as we face our own separation crisis.