Kamala Taylor, 80; Novels Probed Tensions Between Cultures

Kamala Purnaiya Taylor, 80, whose novels under the pseudonym Kamala Markandaya explored tensions between Western and Indian values and rural and urban living, died May 16 in London.

The cause of death was not announced.

Markandaya made her name with her first novel, “Nectar in a Sieve” (1954), which described the problems of an Indian peasant woman and became a bestseller, particularly in the U.S., where it was a main selection of the Book of the Month Club in 1955.

Born in Mysore, India, she studied history at Madras University and became a journalist.

She moved to Britain in 1948 after Indian independence but wrote later that “the eyes I see with are still Indian eyes.”

Nine other novels followed “Nectar in a Sieve,” including “A Handful of Rice” (1966), “The Nowhere Man” (1972), “Two Virgins” (1973), “The Golden Honeycomb” (1977) and “Pleasure City” (1982).

“A Silence of Desire” (1960), about a nervy government clerk who struggles to deal with his wife’s unexplained absences, is considered one of her most polished works.