Tradition is good. But it can change the course of lives. Set in the time of Gandhi, the parallel story of Leela who is widowed at age 12, underscores that tradition needs to be challenged for life to continue -- not in misery but with hope for a better future. "Keeping corner" shows the Indian tradition that when a husband dies, the wife must be confined in the house for year. For a lifetime, she must live as an outcast as a "raand" or widow. Life cannot go on for a widow. ( )

Each culture has its own taboos and customs. For Leela everything looks fine until her “fiancé” is bit by a deadly snake while the medicine man is out of town. Leela is not yet 13, but she was engaged at age 2 and married at age 9. Soon she was to have her anu and move into her husband’s family home, but with his death she becomes a widow and is confined to her home for a year. While the confinement is only for one year, the shaved head, lack of bangles, and drab clothing of widowhood will remain for life. While she is struggling with her forced confinement, Gandhi is trying to bring changes to his country. Gandhi was for peaceful resistance, yet he encouraged the Indians to fight in the British ranks during the war. While they do not understand that inconsistency, the inconsistency that really bothers Leela is the fact that her second cousin is widower twice by the age of 19, but since he is a male, his life can go on and some even suspect he will marry a third time. Since she is a Brahman girl, Leela must remain a widow (lower caste widows are allowed to remarry). Leela and her brother see how Gandhi’s ideas are changing lives in the city but are not sure until the end if the same changes can reach out to their little town. Somehow her parents, aunt and uncle (who all share the same house) are convinced to let her teacher come and tutor her for the year. Through learning about Gandhi and his ideas, Leela gains the courage to confront her father and gain permission to attend further schooling in the city when the year is over.
Not everyone will be interested in the life of an Indian girl in early 1900’s, but for those who like learning about other cultures and time periods, it is a great book. ( )

India is suffering a severe drought while twelve year old Leela Is suffering a hard future, engaged at two and married at nine, with no care for eduation and spoiled her hole life, when her husband dies shes starts to wonder what to do next. ( )

Leela, age 12, is a Brahmin Indion growing up at the end of WW I. Engaged at 2 and married at 9, she looks forward to finally going to live with her husband, until one day he is bitten by a snake and dies. Now she is a widow, and at such a young age. For an entire year she must remain in her home with a shaved head, no jewelry, and no bright colors. At first she feels sorry for herself, but when a tutor comes to visit weekly to teach her, she starts to discover the teachings of Gandhi soon learns that maybe she doesn’t have to always live according to tradition. Now she just has to convince her parents. ( )

12-year-old Leela, a Gujarati Indian girl of the Brahmin caste, is preparing for her anu, or move-in ceremony with the man she has been married to since she was 9. When her husband dies from a snake bite, she suddenly is a widow, and must “keep corner” in her house for a full year. During her year, she studies at home with her principal, and gradually learns more about herself, her family, and the world around her, including Gandhi’s struggles to bring freedom and equality to the Indian people. As she takes her exams and prepares to leave her small town for university following her year in exile, she must prepare herself and her family for breaking with tradition in seeking a professional career and living life as herself, not just a forgotten and unlucky widow. No red flags. Ages 12+.