https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=The_Blue_BedspreadThe Blue Bedspread - Revision history2026-11-15T05:35:13ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Blue_Bedspread&diff=540429&oldid=prevDessiePelloe5: Made New Article!2025-06-27T18:16:19Z<p>Made New Article!</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|1999 novel by Raj Kamal Jha}}<br />
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{{Use Indian English|date=March 2023}}<br />
{{Infobox book<br />
| italic title = <!--(see above)--><br />
| name = The Blue Bedspread<br />
| image = The_Blue_Bedspread_cover_Picador_1999.jpg<br />
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| caption = 1999 Picador ed.<br />
| author = [[Raj Kamal Jha]]<br />
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| pub_date = 1999<br />
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| isbn = 9780330373852<br />
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'''The Blue Bedspread''' is the 1999 first novel by Indian writer [[Raj Kamal Jha]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bose |first1=Sudip |title="The Blue Bedspread" by Raj Kamal Jha |url=https://www.salon.com/2000/04/11/jha/ |access-date=24 April 2022 |work=Salon |date=11 April 2000 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=dragon>{{cite web |title=The Blue Bedspread by Raj Kamal Jha |url=https://smithsonianapa.org/bookdragon/the-blue-bedspread-by-raj-kamal-jha/ |website=BookDragon |publisher=Smithsonian Institution Asian Pacific American Center |access-date=24 April 2022 |date=26 July 2000}}</ref><br />
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In the novel an old man sits up all night in [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] writing for his dead older sister's newborn child, who is sleeping in the next room and will be taken the next day by adoptive parents.<ref name=dragon /> He says "I will tell you happy stories and I will tell you sad stories. And remember, my child, your truth lies somewhere in between".<ref name=dragon /> The book has been described as "the most tender, sensuous and beguiling book about incest and child abuse you'll ever read".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hickling |first1=Alfred |title=Review: If You Are Afraid of Heights by Raj Kamal Jha |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/aug/16/fiction.featuresreviews2 |work=The Guardian |date=15 August 2003 |language=en}}</ref><br />
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A 2007 paper by Alex Barley in ''[[Narrative Inquiry (journal)|Narrative Inquiry]]'' used this novel and [[Anita Desai]]'s ''Fire on the Mountain'' to consider "the idea of home as a space of sanctuary and retreat from the problems of domestic life".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Barley |first1=Alexandra |title=Home as sanctuary: Stories of secrets and sadness in Fire on the Mountain and The Blue Bedspread |journal=Narrative Inquiry |date=6 November 2007 |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=119–139 |doi=10.1075/ni.17.1.09bar}}</ref><br />
==Reception==<br />
In 2022 ''The Blue Bedspread'' was selected as one of the 70 titles for the [[Big Jubilee Read]], a celebration of [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] writing for the [[Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II]].<ref>{{cite web |title=A literary celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's record-breaking reign |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2Ynpj933DJ2YG5nsMS6fn8k/a-literary-celebration-of-queen-elizabeth-iis-record-breaking-reign |website=BBC |access-date=24 April 2022}}</ref><br />
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==References==<br />
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==External links==<br />
* {{cite news |last1= |first1= |title=The Blue Bedspread [extracts] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/mar/03/extract2 |work=The Guardian |date=3 March 2000 |language=en}} <br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Blue Bedspread, The}}<br />
[[Category:1999 Indian novels]]<br />
[[Category:Novels set in Kolkata]]<br />
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