Karmelin- Konkani Novel

Karmelin is the moving saga of a young orphaned girl's trials and tribulations and of her attempt to break free from the shackles of poverty, and as she grows older, to bring up her daughter in a small gossip-ridden village in South Goa with dignity and self-respect. The novel follows the fortunes of Karmelin, the protagonist who, let down by a drunken wastrel of a husband and pursued by poverty, bravely maps her own destiny. She is eventually compelled to work as a maid in Kuwait to ensure a better future for her family and to repay old debts.

Leading Konkani writer Damodar Mauzo weaves a moving tale of sexual exploitation, machinations within the family, caste conflicts in the Christian community, sexist Arab bosses, and above all, the bitter-sweet triumphs of Karmelin-all set in the metropolitan location of modern day Kuwait and the lush, verdant landscape of Goa.

Damodar Mauzo (b.1944) is a fiction writer who has been writing for over three decades. He runs a business in his village yet has time for his literary pursuits. He has actively participated in the linguistic and social movements in Goa. Though his forte is short fiction, his novel Karmelin bagged him the 1983 Sahitya Akademi Award. Other awards he has received include Goa Kala Academy Award (twice), Katha Prize and the Konkani Bhasha Mandal Award (twice). He is also the recipient of the Dialogues Award for the Konkani film Shitoo at the First State Film Festival.

Mauzo's stories have been translated widely and have also been telecast nationally.

**Contents and Sample Pages**