{"product_id":"the-selector-of-souls-isbn-9780307362933","title":"The Selector of Souls","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Selector of Souls\u003c\/i\u003e begins with a scene that is terrifying, harrowing and yet strangely tender: we're in the mid ranges of the Himalayas as a young woman gives birth to her third child with the help of her mother, Damini. The birth brings no joy, just a horrible accounting, and the act that follows--the huge sacrifice made by Damini out of love of her daughter--haunts the novel.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn Shauna Singh Baldwin's enthralling novel, two fascinating, strong-willed women must deal with the relentless logic forced upon them by survival: Damini, a Hindu midwife, and Anu, who flees an abusive marriage for the sanctuary of the Catholic church. When Sister Anu comes to Damini's home village to open a clinic, their paths cross, and each are certain they are doing what's best for women. What do health, justice, education and equality mean for women when India is marching toward prosperity, growth and becoming a nuclear power? If the baby girls and women around them are to survive, Damini and Anu must find creative ways to break with tradition and help this community change from within.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe Selector of Souls\u003c\/i\u003e is a bold and vivid dramatization of the charged choices shaping women’s lives in 1990s India. Shauna Singh Baldwin has a gift for warm-hearted and incisive storytelling. This is a novel expansive in its vision and defiantly human in its embrace of the contradictions that animate us all.” \u003cbr\u003e—Catherine Bush, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Rules of Engagement\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eClaire’s Head\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“From its opening lines, in which a mundane scene of domestic life is slowly transformed into horror, \u003ci\u003eThe Selector of Souls\u003c\/i\u003e catapults the reader into a finely imagined space. Shauna Singh Baldwin writes compellingly of the conventions that curtail and threaten the lives of Indian women. Her polished language and original imagery consistently stir and surprise.” \u003cbr\u003e—Erna Paris, author of \u003ci\u003eLong Shadows: Truth, Lies, and History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“A canvas of rich images, a cast of memorable characters with all of their strengths and flaws, important moral questions, gripping stories intertwined. Shauna Singh Baldwin has the skill to mix these ingredients, add her humanist touch and come up with a superb novel.” \u003cbr\u003e—Frances Itani, author of \u003ci\u003eDeafening\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eRequiem\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eSelector of Souls\u003c\/i\u003e is a mesmerizing novel, bravely revealing the harsh realities of an entrenched patriarchy bound by the forces of history. Baldwin’s lush details are vivid and luminous, drawing us into the multitude of cultures and religions, the richly textured worlds of India at the end of the last century. Sweeping and evocative, but most of all: illuminating.” \u003cbr\u003e—Sandra Gulland, author of the Josephine B. trilogy and \u003ci\u003eMistress of the Sun\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“In this tender twister of a tale, Shauna Singh Baldwin takes us inside a world where women murder or abort their daughters to help us understand how gender-loathing and its attendant horrors can be transformed by sympathy and love.” \u003cbr\u003e—Susan Swan, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Wives of Bath \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Western Light\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShauna Singh Baldwin was born in Montreal and grew up in India. She is the author of \u003cb\u003eEnglish Lessons and Other Stories\u003c\/b\u003e and the novels \u003cb\u003eWhat The Body Remembers\u003c\/b\u003e and \u003cb\u003eThe Tiger Claw\u003c\/b\u003e. Her short fiction, poetry, and essays have been published in literary magazines in the U.S.A., Canada, and India. From 1991-1994 she was an independent radio producer, hosting \"Sunno!\" the East-Indian-American radio show where you don't have to be East-Indian to listen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShauna holds an M.B.A. from Marquette University and an MFA from the University of British Columbia. Her first novel, \u003cb\u003eWhat the Body Remembers\u003c\/b\u003e, was published in 1999. It has been translated into eleven languages, and was awarded the 2000 Commonwealth Writer's Prize for Best Book, Canada\/Caribbean region. \u003cb\u003eThe Tiger Claw\u003c\/b\u003e, published in 2004, was nominated for Canada’s prestigious Giller Prize and has been optioned for a film. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShauna's awards include India's international Nehru Award (gold medal) for public speaking, and the national Shastri Award, a silver medal for English prose. She is the recipient of the 1995 Writer's Union of Canada Award for short prose and the 1997 Canadian Literary Award. \u003cb\u003eEnglish Lessons\u003c\/b\u003e received the 1996 Friends of American Writers Award.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA novel","brand":"Vintage Canada","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46302597742821,"sku":"NP9780307362933","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780307362933.jpg?v=1767741441","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-selector-of-souls-isbn-9780307362933","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}