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    The Sleeping Dictionary
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    The Sleeping Dictionary
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    The Sleeping Dictionary
    Audiobook16 hours

    The Sleeping Dictionary

    Written by Lucy Lord

    Narrated by Sneha Mathan

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

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    About this audiobook

    The term “sleeping dictionary” was coined for young Indian women who slept with British men and educated them in the ways of India. Set between 1925 and the end of World War II, The Sleeping Dictionary is the story of Kamala, born to a peasant family in West Bengal, who makes her way to Calcutta of the 1930s. Haunted by a forbidden love, she is caught between the raging independence movement and the British colonial society she finds herself inhabiting. This portrait of late Raj India is both a saga and a passionate love story.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamscape Media Audio
    Release dateAug 20, 2013
    ISBN9781624067167
    Author

    Lucy Lord

    Lucy Lord is a journalist and columnist who has written for the Times, Guardian, Independent, Evening Standard, Time Out and Arena. Her favourite pastimes are reading, writing, lying in hammocks, lunching on beaches and throwing parties. She lives in London with her musician husband. Revelry, her first novel, isn't autobiographical in the slightest.

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    Reviews for The Sleeping Dictionary

    4/5

    47 ratings7 reviews

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    • 5/5
      When Pom, also called Didi, was ten years old, she lived with her family in Johlpur, a village destroyed in a 1930 cyclone. Pom wasn’t in the village when the storm struck. As a member of one of the lowest castes, Pom’s future wasn’t bright, but after the cyclone, it was non-existent. Without family or friends, Pom survives and the story begins. Pom, now called by the Christian name Sarah, becomes a servant in a boarding school, where she learns English, literacy, and basic manners. Pom reconnects with a former acquaintance and becomes her amanuensis, writing letters to her friend’s fiancee. Pom becomes so invested in the process, she falls in love with the boy and internalizes his desire for India’s independence from England. And then life takes another turn.In 1935 Pom is fifteen years old, going by the name Pamela, conversing with men, and plying the trade of the sleeping dictionary until the wheel of life turns again.Pamela, now Kamala, reaches Calcutta in 1938 where she is embroiled in the Indian struggle for freedom and works for an English civil servant whom she more than admires. More a personal coming-of-age story than a saga of Indian Independence, Massey’s tale is well-researched, engagingly written, and compelling.
    • 4/5
      India's struggle for independence is reflected in the lives of the characters in this book set in Bengal. Naive and innocent Pom/Kamala escapes her village after the death of her family only to be befriended and forced into service by a brothel owner. She eventually escapes and finds work with a kind Englishman in Bombay.
    • 5/5
      Very enjoyable, I'm glad I came across this at my library.
    • 4/5
      A little slow to start, but has a nice pace overall. A view of British India from the Indian side. Pom-Sarah-Kamala does whatever is needed to survive but still manages to retain her essential self.
    • 4/5
      I enjoy Massey's Japanese mysteries and this got good reviews, so I tried it. Skillfully written, rich in background regarding the Indian independence movement coupled with the touching story of a poor girl trying to make her way against all odds. If I had any criticism, it would be that the independent movement portions were a bit too detailed for the rest of the story if one had no prior knowledge of the politicians involved. Gandhi and Nehru, yes, but the other leaders and the political parties, not so much. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the book.
    • 5/5
      The struggle for Indian independence was woven through this story of survival and love. Makes me want to learn more about India’s history.
    • 5/5
      This is a terrific, thoroughly engrossing book! It tells the mesmerizing life story of Pom, a Bengali girl who survives a tidal wave in 1930 that wipes out her family and Bengali village. Tied in with Pom’s personal experiences is a fascinating account of India’s journey toward independence. I wholeheartedly recommend The Sleeping Dictionary to individuals and book clubs alike.