A BALLAD OF REMITTENT FEVER: A NOVEL-HB

In the early years of the
twentieth century, Calcutta is grappling with deadly diseases such as the
plague, cholera, typhoid, malaria, and kala-azar. The populace is restive
under British rule as World War I looms large on the horizon. Set against
this backdrop, is an indelible tale of loss, hope, love, and mortality.Dr
Dwarikanath Ghoshal is propelled by a fierce desire to vanquish the diseases
that ravage the population. He does not hesitate to dismiss quackery,
superstition, and old-fashioned beliefs that have contributed to the spread
of infectious diseases.Four generations of Ghoshals continue to infuse their
scientific temper and liberal values into the lives of people around them.
There is Dwarikanath?s headstrong son, Kritindranath Ghoshal, who joins the
Bengal Ambulance Corps and sets off for the battlefield in Mesopotamia during
World War I. There is also his soulmate, Madhumadhabi, who trains to be an
Ayurvedic doctor, and is heartbroken when Kritindranath is married
off.Equally compelling are Dwarikanath?s wife, Amodini, his grandson, his
great-grandson, and a myriad other brilliantly imagined characters who play
out their lives in the course of the novel, fighting diseases, social mores,
and trying to cope with the enormous, convulsive changes the city is
experiencing.Distinctive and beautifully wrought, A Ballad of Remittent Fever
is a stunning exploration of the world of medicine and the ordinary miracles
performed by physicians in the course of their daily lives. Originally
published in the Bengali as Abiram Jwarer Roopkatha, this is one of the most
original novels to have come out of India in the twenty-first century.