India Post /Interview June 7, 2005

Tehzib Book Review ..........Summer/Fall 2005

Urbanite Review	March, 2005
The Baltimore Sun	March 13, 2005
The Towson Times	December 1, 2004

Press Release

For Immediate Release
Contact: Kwame Alexander
703.371.4325

LALITA NORONHA’S DEBUT PLACES HER ALONGSIDE JHUMPA LAHIRI AND ARUNDHATI ROY, IN CRAFT AND COURAGE.

Like a Bombay version of John Updike, poet and scientist Lalita Noronha has crafted a debut short story collection, that blends elements of Indian traditions with the complexities of American culture. “A beautiful, heartbreaking collection of stories from a gifted new writer,” says Sujata Massey, author of The Samurai’s Daughter. Where Monsoons Cry is both sensual and magical, painting stories—some linked—that read like luminous poems of love, loss, heartache and courage.

“This book has heart and haught. I was moved by the passion and the politics. I knew that before I made the transition out of book publishing, Monsoons had to be published,” says publisher Kwame Alexander. Where Monsoons Cry is about migrant Indian women who leave home—the physical and emotional space of home—be it a village, or a country, for the unknown. The stories are braided together portraying women characters that are in turn feminist but also subservient; they are naïve and lonely, but also shrewd, strong, and joyful. At the core of this book is the dark tradition of female children being undervalued, especially among the uneducated in India: “Girls are like deep wells of sorrow,” a mother says, “into which you throw hard earned coins. A little splash, a wedge of light glinting, and the money sinks, leaving nothing but a ripple, sting of metal on water.”

Where Monsoons Cry will be available in bookstores in December of 2004, and the author will embark on a series of readings /and signings in Washington, DC, Baltimore, New York, and California.

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