By Joanne Howard
When I set out to write my debut novel, ‘Sleeping in the Sun‘ (She Writes Press, Oct 22, 2024), about a young American boy coming of age in India during the last years of the British Raj, I believed that the book would be about just that. This story was inspired by my own grandfather’s upbringing in India, and I dove into my family’s remarkably well preserved and abundant archives of that time period like a jalebi in hot oil (in other words, I was practically spiraling from all the inspiration).
But among all the photos of four rambunctious American boys in their rural Bengal home, one constant symbol stood out to me – a woman, sometimes bent over a typewriter, sometimes seated at a well-laden dinner table, or simply smiling stoically amidst her large brood.
In my novel she would become Mrs. Hinton, the matriarch of the missionary family that runs a boarding house at the edge of their small Bengal town. In my first drafts, she was a meek but likable character, described as motherly in the most general sense, but ultimately in the background as I focused the story on the boys, who were constantly in action with each other. But as the story unfolded, I realized that Mrs. Hinton would become a valuable presence in the narrative.
As the novel explored themes of imperialism, authority, self-determination, autonomy of the individual, and the independence of a nation, I realized that I was only exploring all these topics through the eyes of the male characters. And while that would make sense as the two main characters are the young Gene Hinton and the family’s Indian servant, Arthur, I knew that a new dimension of the story would open through the perspective of the only woman in the family.
If I were to transpose this novel into Mrs. Hinton’s story, we would see a woman who bravely starts a family in an unknown country, a woman who forgoes notions of social status or any sense of refinery for a very hands-on approach to parenting her four young boys, which would have been seen as unusual during the British Raj (a household of her size would have included a whole staff of servants, as my sensitivity reader kindly noted when checking for historical accuracy). It is through her struggle and sacrifice as a mother and wife that the novel illuminates the difficulty and isolation that the American minority had in the British Raj in a way that wouldn’t come to life if the novel only followed the male characters.
But Mrs. Hinton only represents the female perspective from the American side of the story. What could be gained from the Indian female characters’ points of view? For this perspective, my novel follows two Indian women who walk very different paths.
The first is Jaya, an independent woman – both in spirit and as a solo traveler who arrives on the doorstep of the Hinton household looking for a place to stay – and Soni, the quiet and timid younger cousin of one of Arthur’s friends. Unlike Jaya, who is free to move about the world as she wishes, Soni is confined to her parents’ house for reasons that will become apparent as the narrative unfolds.
By exploring these two disparate female story arcs in my novel, one can get a sense of the inequality that Indian women faced at a time when the nation was rapidly changing. As India marched toward independence, some women were able to follow the cause, especially in Bengal, which was historically a progressive and forward-thinking region of India regarding gender equality, caste reform, and religious freedom.
Others, however, were constrained by their family’s means and social status or simply their own suitability as a bride. As Arthur considers a life with either of these two women, his choice reflects the split in the prospects of Indian women at the time.
Mrs. Hinton, Jaya, and Soni may not be the main characters in ‘Sleeping in the Sun’. But their presence and their choices shape the narrative all the same, imbuing the story with their distinctly feminine motivations, perspectives, and – ultimately – independent paths that leave the lasting impression that women have shaped the fate of India just as much as the men in power.
Joanne Howard is an Asian American writer from California. She holds an MFA in writing from Pacific University. Her poetry received an honorable mention from Stanford University’s 2019 Paul Kalanithi Writing Award. Her fiction has been published in The Catalyst by UC Santa Barbara, The Metaworker Literary Magazine and the Marin Independent Journal and her nonfiction has been published in Another New Calligraphy and The Santa Barbara Independent. She lives in Santa Rosa, CA. Find out more at her website.
ABOUT THE BOOK: ‘Sleeping in The Sun’ follows young George Hinton and his Indian servant, Arthur, in British-ruled India, as scandalous truths unfold around a mysterious family friend who comes to live with the Hintons. Told from two different perspectives, Joanne interweaves the experiences of someone with privilege and someone without, while displaying rich descriptions of the Indian landscape. ‘Sleeping in the Sun’ will transport you to another time where British influence in India only benefited one group of people.
