A Young Woman’s Struggle for Personal Freedom in a World Bound by Tradition

Parker, CO, January 02, 2007 --(PR.com)-- Lost to Them, a novel by Gaytri Saggar, is a bittersweet love story that begins at the turn of the 20th century with a family in India and takes us through to the next generation’s life in Africa. As we become acquainted with the various family members, we learn about the strict boundaries of both Indian, African and English society. These are lives delineated by color, caste, and economic status— boundaries that remain rigid even as the decades pass.

“For a moment, she could not believe that her mother had actually struck her. Her hand went to her burning cheek, as she felt the taste of blood in her mouth. She got up slowly, her eyes on her mother all the time. Neither one of her parents had ever laid a hand on her, so to be hit now that she was an adult, not only took her by surprise but angered her. “Don’t you ever hit me again,” she said with clenched teeth, as she tried to hold back the tears that were glistening her eyes.

“Not hit you! I should kill you. You slut. Selling your body to the Whites. That’s the studying you were doing in England!” Her mother went on with her condemnation of Selina. Selina stood there stupefied. Things were not supposed to go like this.

These can’t be my parents, she pondered. This can’t be the person who carried me in her womb for nine months and nurtured me. How can she hate me so, her own flesh and blood?” 

Amid clashing cultural differences emerges the focus of the story—Serena, the daughter, an independent spirit who meets and falls in love with an Englishman, and subsequently marries him without her parent’s knowledge. When independence comes to Kenya, the English and Indian populations are thrown into a state of turmoil. This causes events to unfold that will bring Serena and her husband, Dirk, face-to-face with the painful consequences of their individual actions.

Author Gaytri Saggar was born in Kenya to Indian parents. She has been a writer since childhood, first as a poet and short story writer, and then as a journalist for her school newspaper. As an adult, she became the first woman journalist in East Africa, working for both a newspaper and a television station. Shortly after her marriage, she moved to Canada and then settled in California. Gaytri is currently a freelance writer.

Book Statistics
ISBN(s): 1-59800-390-9
Retail Price(s): $16.95 US $20.95 CAN - Paperback
$23.95 US $29.95 CAN - Hardback
Size and Format(s): 5.5 x 8.5 both formats
Page count: 320
Availability: Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, www.outskirtspress.com/lost

Author Contact:
Gaytri Saggar
Email: gaytris@gmail.com
http://www.losttothem.com

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