Misplaced Heads - Jayanthi Sankar

The shift in the time frames, from past to present are seamlessly flowing with respective
characters. The novelist has done dense research in every detail of the repertoire, the training of the
devadasis, and their style. I was awestruck. It was mind-blowing, to think about how she could even
decipher various adavus and various mudras used by us, dancers.

-Kalaimamani Dr. Radhika Shurajit, Dancer, Teacher, Choreographer, Chennai
This fiction is a standing testament that though times have changed immensely, the bare human
emotion towards art and feelings towards fellow human beings remain the same and are truly
eternal. A devadasi of the yesteryear would not fret towards a polygamous institution as much as a
conditioned woman today would. The ironies are brought out gracefully while normalizing many
human emotions, probably considered a taboo by the general public.

- Prathik Sudha Murali, Historian, Teacher, Public speaker, Chennai
In this fabulous post-modernistic, historical fiction with feministic metaphors, the protagonist
Poorna's perspective towards her man reads so much like the modern representation of the temple
a woman married to God.

- - Raaghav Sankar. Banking professional, Singapore
This creative work is very unique in putting together apparently disjointed fragments spanning
centuries and geographical locations and an array of characters from different eras with their quirky
and very specific to times tonality and expressions. The unfolding of the characters and the
experiences of the temple dancer communities bring to the reader an unrivaled perspective of the
honor and dignity of the much-misrepresented class of women. 

-Usha Nagasamy, Lecturer in Further Education College, London
The expansive postmodernist novel peopled with over a dozen characters, spanning generations,
different ages, and varying milieus successfully trashes several misconceptions regarding the devadasi
culture in India. It attempts to correct the distorted picture of the system and chronicles the
downfall of devadasis and their rich culture and heritage with the advent of colonial rule.
Without romanticizing them, the author depicts them simply as human beings with their strengths
and flaws.
- Dr. Revathy Sivasubramaniam, Assistant Professor, Chellammal Women’s College, Chennai
Time has memories, it's said. But even time wouldn't be able to depict events spanned across Eras
so beautifully, given a chance. A reader becomes a student as history unveils itself in front of our
bare eyes, yet astonishingly aware of the present as we read about the parallel line of thought that
comes out through the protagonist's experiences. A film scope of South India through medieval,

Islamic, colonial, and the present-day - Misplaced Heads does exactly that, making us delve deeper
into the musings of the human heart and its madness by misplacing our heads.

- Sredhanea Ramakrishnan, an Entrepreneur, Theni, India
With a simple, yet beautiful and fluent language that any reader of any level can engage in, the author
has done commendable, innovative storytelling. With ease, she takes the reader to the ancient eras
and the contemporary modern world that I could visualize the events scene by scene. The reading
experience was strikingly memorable in that sense. 

- Bina Amul Subnis, Singapore

Through the pains and sensitivities of the two contemporary protagonists, the author artistically
suggests that the heads are that of women who go misplaced when they want to assert, clarify, and
say no and spell out their views. In Misplaced Heads, one of the best works by female authors,
through the parallel thread of the centuries of temple women she opens windows of deviations that
brought about the decline in their services to ancient art and temples.  

- P.Muralidharan, novelist, poet, literary critic and a translator, Chennai

The character-driven tale unfolds with the courage of a rural temple woman of South India during
the early 1900s, looking to break a stranglehold from her place in society. The crisp and clever
narrative smoothly draws readers into the times before and after her. A half-world away, we are
delivered unto the colonial streets of India.

- Krishna Ahir, the author of the novel, The Cat Hunter, Hyderabad

Author: Jayanthi Sankar
Genre: Literature and Fiction
Publishing House: Zero Degree Publishing
No. Of Pages: 492
Language: English