Sunetra Gupta was born in Calcutta, India, on 15th March 1965. She spent her childhood in Ethiopia and Zambia. She returned to Calcutta as a teenager and began writing. She was very much encouraged by her father who introduced her to the work of the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. She studied biology at the University of Princeton and has a Ph.D. from the University of London. She is a Reader in Epidemiology at Oxford University. She is the author of four novels. One of her novels was originally inspired by Brendan Kenelly`s adaptation of Medea. The other one is about a single day in the lives of a butcher, a baker and a candle maker and the women they all love. This was set at the backdrop of Calcutta, New York and London. One of her story is of a remarkable discovery made in a crumbling garage laboratory in Calcutta whereas other one narrates the history of three generations of a wealthy Indian family from Calcutta. One of her creation `A Sin of Colour` won the Southern Arts Literature Prize. Presently Sunetra Gupta lives in Oxford with her husband and two daughters
Synopsis:
The Glassblower`s Breath by Sunetra Gupta is a unique in literal sense. She weaves Rumi`s poem into her narrative style i.e. in reverse. The narration is falling towards the beginning. The three places London, New York and Calcutta all are jumbled up. The central character of the story is `You`. The character around whom everything happens. Part of the novel`s charm lies in its modernist tendencies. It feels a mockery to reveal the plot. The narrator is presented as a writer who addresses `You`, a woman who lives in the shadow of her own life. Most of the action occurs on one day, with flashbacks and dwellings on the past filling the spaces in between. `You` is single here. But she is involved emotionally with her Muslim cousin Avishek who is a baker and also married. But the person devotes his life to dreaming about `You`. During the day she meets a butcher, Daniel, and she is captivated by his purity. With this man she can fulfill her desires without guilt. All the while, shady images of her house, family and expectations predominate uncomfortably in the background. Much of her action is prompted by a need to escape their traditional crystal goblet. In the meantime, her old friend, Jon Sparrow is passing through town, begging for money, writing fantastic stories about dogs or rabbits. Also he is occasionally inviting introspection and reminiscences from `You`. These characters are very delicately crafted. There is detailed description in each cases. Somehow always remaining as subtle. This story is very mesmerizing and anyone can glue to the storybook.
The Glassblower`s Breath by Sunetra Gupta is published by the Grove press in the year of 1993, which is a story of the baker, butcher and a candle maker.
Glassblower`s Breath by Sunetra Gupta is a story that touches the heart. The author always concentrates on the present scenario of different places. This story also makes the same scenario as it draws reader`s attention towards that.
