Girl Before a Kerosene Stove

Situated in the 1960s Punjab, a society in transition, Jagjit Brar's Girl Before a Kerosene Stove is a story of loss and love, emotional distress, and mental disarray, told with remarkable ease and sensitivity. In conveying the protagonist's raw emotions and eerie dependence upon color psychology, the author marries words with colors and art in memorable ways. Despite his travails, the protagonist's resolute will wins him new love. When the last sentence is read, the reader craves. Amritjit Singh, Langston Hughes Professor Emeritus, Ohio University