Fault Lines

The acclaimed Indian poet reflects on her place in the post-9/11 world in this “evocative and moving” memoir spanning continents and cultures (Publishers Weekly). Identity and displacement are two of the powerful themes in this gorgeously written memoir by acclaimed poet, scholar, and author Meena Alexander. Born in India to Indian civil servants, Alexander lived in cities across her home country, as well as in Sudan, England, and the United States. In Fault Lines, she tells of her attempts to navigate the class system in India and abroad, as well as the conflict between her personal ambition and the expectations placed on her by Indian tradition. In this examination of what it means to identify with a particular people, Alexander uncovers a childhood trauma that she had nearly forgotten. Focusing on the concept of “other” as she raises her own children in New York City, Alexander makes an impassioned and poetic call to find common ground among the “fault lines” that divide us. “An enchanting, beautifully written memoir.” —Library Journal “Alexander’s writing is imbued with a poetic grace shot through with an inner violence, like a shimmering two-toned silk.” —Ms.