is the fourth of six novels written by Manju Kapur. Shortlisted for the DSC prize for South Asian literature in 2011, the novel explores the socio-cultural factors that instil a constant flux within the psyche of immigrants migrating from the ‘communitarian’ East to the ‘individualistic’ global West. The narrative imbibes the socio-political transitions in 1970s India from multiple perspectives and delves into the identity of a ‘new woman’ who, being highly educated and independent, chooses to migrate to Canada for the prospect of marriage and assimilation in a new country that, above all, promises a better lifestyle.
As she confesses in an interview, Kapur’s literary perspective originates from her personal experiences as a teacher “in a woman’s college”
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Citation: Salim, Munira. "The Immigrant". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 April 2022 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=26537, accessed 21 November 2024.]
