"The Pool in the Desert" by Sara Jeannette Duncan is a story of a mother's journey in British India, focusing on the intricacies of family and social roles. Mrs. Farnham, the main character, grapples with raising her family while dealing with the norms of colonial life, reflecting on her connection with her spouse, John, and particularly her daughter, Cecily. The story opens with Mrs. Farnham struggling to balance her home's budget and family care while living abroad. She recalls her daughter's early years and the challenges posed by her husband's military responsibilities and her eventual separation from Cecily. As the story goes on, it's obvious that Mrs. Farnham's relationship with Cecily is characterized by separation, both physically and emotionally since Cecily grows up with her aunts in England, creating a sense of disconnection between mother and daughter and setting the stage for an study of maternal feelings, societal demands, and the effects of separation on family ties in a colonial setting.
The Pool in the Desert
By Sara Jeannette Duncan
Amidst the backdrop of colonial India, a mother confronts the complex dynamics of family, duty, and separation as she reflects on her distant relationship with her daughter growing up an ocean away.
Summary
About the AuthorSara Jeannette Duncan was a Canadian author and journalist, who also published as Mrs. Everard Cotes and Garth Grafton among other names. First trained as a teacher in a normal school, she took to poetry early in life and after a brief teaching period worked as a travel writer for Canadian newspapers and a columnist for the Toronto Globe. Afterward she wrote for the Washington Post where she was put in charge of the current literature section. Later she made a journey to India and married an Anglo-Indian civil servant thereafter dividing her time between England and India. She wrote 22 works of fiction, many with international themes and settings. Her novels met with mixed acclaim and are rarely read today. In 2016, she was named a National Historic Person on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.
Sara Jeannette Duncan was a Canadian author and journalist, who also published as Mrs. Everard Cotes and Garth Grafton among other names. First trained as a teacher in a normal school, she took to poetry early in life and after a brief teaching period worked as a travel writer for Canadian newspapers and a columnist for the Toronto Globe. Afterward she wrote for the Washington Post where she was put in charge of the current literature section. Later she made a journey to India and married an Anglo-Indian civil servant thereafter dividing her time between England and India. She wrote 22 works of fiction, many with international themes and settings. Her novels met with mixed acclaim and are rarely read today. In 2016, she was named a National Historic Person on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.
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