The Storyteller's Secret

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2018

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Part 13: “Amisha”Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 13, Chapter 45 Summary

Amisha goes into labor under a new moon. According to Hindu culture, a daughter born under the new moon is a curse and bad omen; the midwife helping to deliver Amisha’s daughter Lena (Jaya’s mother) says as much, but Amisha refuses to let such a claim hinder her love for her new child. In her daughter, Amisha recognizes Stephen. Deepak doesn’t consider that Amisha might have been unfaithful and only values Lena for her looks: “With her complexion, we will have suitors lined up at our door for her hand in marriage” (332). Immediately, Amisha insists that Lena must go to America when she is of marrying age. Eventually, Deepak promises that they will send Lena to America for marriage, and Amisha falls asleep with the knowledge that she has secured for her daughter the best future she could. Later, when Amisha explains this decision to Ravi, she insists that America “is a place where she can have a chance to be who she wants” (333). For her daughter, Amisha desires freedom, choice, and the ability to voice her ideas without fear of repression in a patriarchal society.

By the time of Lena’s birth, World War II has ended. Ravi and Amisha wonder where Stephen might be; Amisha insists that she knows he survived the war as she “would know if he had not” (334) through the intensity of the bond they share.

Part 13, Chapter 46 Summary

A year after Lena’s birth, Amisha has still not written a new story. Her dreams are full of Stephen. By losing him, she has lost much of her creative drive.

As Amisha and Ravi battle the mosquitoes that plague the house, Amisha is bitten by a mosquito. Three days later, Amisha’s mosquito bite has not healed. She suffers from fever, nausea, and fatigue. The village doctor prescribes a small vial of medicine and tells Ravi that the virus will pass in a few days. Two days later, Deepak returns home to find Amisha delirious from the fever. She believes Deepak to be Stephen, asking him if he has seen his daughter. Ravi protects Amisha’s secret by redirecting Deepak’s attention to the medicine given them by the doctor.

Part 13, Chapter 47 Summary

With Amisha so sick, Deepak has had to step in as their children’s main parent and become more invested in the children’s day-to-day lives.

Three days later, Deepak approaches Amisha’s bed and says he has something for her—a key to the school. Deepak has purchased the school from the government in the hopes that it would help motivate Amisha’s recovery: “I think I would give anything to have you as you were” (340).After a few days, Amisha is ready to walk to the school and visit the garden. The entire property is “hers, a gift from the husband she had betrayed” (341). Ravi is astonished by the garden, a small paradise in the middle of their village. In the garden, Amisha requests a promise from Ravi: “When I die, you must tell my daughter my story” (342).

The physical toll of walking to the garden proves too much for Amisha. Her fever quickly returns and she begins to hallucinate, raving about Stephen and their daughter Lena. Ravi attempts to bring her back to her senses, but Amisha is lost to her delusions until she collapses underneath the beech tree she planted with Stephen.

Part 13 Analysis

The topic of feminism explored so deeply in Amisha’s chapters reaches its culmination in Deepak’s promise to send his newborn daughter Lena to America when she comes of age. Amisha absolutely requires this of her husband, and for once, Deepak does not try to override her wishes, though his first words about his daughter placed a monetary value on her life, consigning her to an arranged marriage to elevate the family’s social standing as a newborn. Amisha steadfastly refuses this future for her daughter; every measure of independence that Amisha has gained throughout the novel is directed toward this scene, when she successfully removes her daughter from the cycle of oppression and gives her a future with choice.

It is important to note that Amisha’s illness specifically manifests in delusions and psychosis, symbolizing her complete surrender of her independence. By giving her power to Lena through the promise of an American future, Amisha has no more reserves for her own agency. She must be cared for completely by others, her treatment decided upon by others, and the story of her life entrusted to another.