Advaita Malla Burman.

(i) This book is an epic about the Mallas, a community of fisherfolk in the river Titash.
(ii) The novel is about three generations of the Mallas.
(iii) It describes the community life of Mallas their religious traditions, festivals and relationship.
(iv) It discusses circumstance due to which slowly they broke up.
(v) Their end comes together, as the river dries up.  This is special because the author is himself from a low caste fisherfolk community.

(i) Source of Information: Colonial administrators found the 'vernacular' novels a valuable source of information on native life and customs. Such information was useful for them in governing Indian society, with its large and a variety of communities and castes. As outsiders, the British knew little about life inside Indian households. The novels in Indian languages often had descriptions of domestic life.
(ii) Novels and colonialism: The novel originated in Europe at a time when it was colonizing the rest of the world. The early novel contributed to colonialism by marking the readers feel they were part of a superior community of fellow colonialists.
(iii) The novel and nation making: The history written by colonial historians tended to depict Indians as weak, divided, and dependent on the British. These histories could not satisfy the tastes of the new Indian administrators and intellectuals. Nor did the traditional Puranic stories of the past-peopled by gods and demons, filled with the fantastic and the supernatural- seem convincing to those educated and working under the English system. Such minds wanted a new view of the past that would show that Indians could be independent minded and had been so in history. The novel provided a solution. In it, the nation could be imagined in a past that also featured historical characters, places, events and dates.
(iv) Novels and struggle for freedom: The imagined nation of the novel was so powerful that it could inspire actual political movements. Banking's Anandamath (1882) is a novel about a secret Hindu militia that fights Muslims to establish a Hindu Kingdom. It was a novel that inspired many kinds of freedom fighters.
(v) Novels and common sharing novelists included: Various classes in the novel in such a way that they could be seen to belong to a shared world. Premchand's novels, for instance, are filled with all kinds of powerful characters drawn from all levels . of society. In his novels you meet aristocrats and landlords, middle level peasants and landless labourers, middle class professionals and people from the margins of society. The women characters are strong individuals, especially those who come from the lower classes and are not modernised.

(i) Pioneer of modem Hindi literature: In the north, Bharatendu Harishchandra, the pioneer of modern Hindi literature, encouraged many members of his circle of poets and writers to recreate and translate novels from other languages. Many novels were actually translated and adapted from English and Bengali under his influence, but the first proper modem novel was written by Srinivas Das of Delhi.
(ii) Writings of Srinivas Das: Srinivas Dass novel, Published in 1882, reflected the inner and outer world of the newly emerging middle class.
(iii) Writings of Devaki Nandan Khatri: The writings of Devaki Nandan Khatri created a novel-reading public in Hindi. His best-seller, Chandrakanta - a romance with dazzling elements of fantasy - is believed to have contributed immensely in popularising the Hindi language and the Nagari script among the educated classes of those times. Although it was apparently written purely for the 'pleasure of reading', this novel also gives some interesting insights into the fears and desires of its reading public.
(iv) Munshi Premchand: It was with the writing of Premchand that the Hindi novel achieved excellence. He began writing in Urdu and then shifted to Hindi, remaining an immensely influential writer in both languages. He drew on the traditional art of kissa-goi (storytelling). Many critics think that his novel Sewasadan (The Abode of Service), published in 1916, lifted the Hindi novel from the realm of fantasy, moralising and simple entertainment to a serious reflection on the lives of ordinary people and social issues. Sewasadan deals mainly with the poor condition of women in society such as like child marriage and dowry.

(i) New type of man : Novels for young boys idealised a new type of man.  Someone who was powerful, assertive, independent and daring.  Most of these novels were full of adventure set in places remote from Europe.
(ii) Colonisers as hero and honourable: The colonisers appear heroic and honourable Books like R.L Stevenson's' Treasure Island (1883) or Rudyard Kipling's jungle Book (1894) became great hits.
(iii) English Courage: G.A Hentyls historical adventure novels for boys were also widely popular during the height of the British empire.  They aroused the excitement and adventure of conquering strange lands.  They were always about young boys who witness grand historical events, get involved in some military action, and show what they called the 'English' courage.
(iv) Love stories and the young : Love stories written for adolescent girls also first became popular in this period, especially in the United States, notably Ramona (1884) by Helen Hunt  Jackson and a series entitles What Katy Did (1872) by Sarah Chauncey Woolsey, who wrote under the pen-name Susan Coolidge.

Charles Dickens was the foremost English novelist of the Victorian era.  He wrote about the terrible effects of industrialisation on people's live and characters.  His novels Hard Times and Oliver Twist became world famous,
(i) Hard Times: His novel Hard Times (1854) describes Coketown, a fictitious industrial town, as a grim place full of machinery, smoking chimneys, rivers polluted purple and buildings that all looked the same.  Here workers are known as 'hands', as if they had no identity other than as operators of machines.  Dickens criticised not just the greed for profits but also the ideas that reduced human beings into simple instruments of production.
(ii) Oliver Twist : In other novels too, Dickens focused on the terrible conditions of urban life under industrial capitalism. His Oliver Twist (1838) is the tale of a poor orphan who lived in a world of petty criminals and beggars.  Brought up in a cruel workhouse, Oliver was finally adopted by a wealthy man and lived happily ever after.

Charles Dickens was the foremost English novelist of the Victorian era.  He wrote about the terrible effects of industrialisation on people's live and characters.  His novels Hard Times and Oliver Twist became world famous,
(i) Hard Times: His novel Hard Times (1854) describes Coketown, a fictitious industrial town, as a grim place full of machinery, smoking chimneys, rivers polluted purple and buildings that all looked the same.  Here workers are known as 'hands', as if they had no identity other than as operators of machines.  Dickens criticised not just the greed for profits but also the ideas that reduced human beings into simple instruments of production.
(ii) Oliver Twist : In other novels too, Dickens focused on the terrible conditions of urban life under industrial capitalism. His Oliver Twist (1838) is the tale of a poor orphan who lived in a world of petty criminals and beggars.  Brought up in a cruel workhouse, Oliver was finally adopted by a wealthy man and lived happily ever after.

Charles Dickens was the foremost English novelist of the Victorian era.  He wrote about the terrible effects of industrialisation on people's live and characters.  His novels Hard Times and Oliver Twist became world famous,
(i) Hard Times: His novel Hard Times (1854) describes Coketown, a fictitious industrial town, as a grim place full of machinery, smoking chimneys, rivers polluted purple and buildings that all looked the same.  Here workers are known as 'hands', as if they had no identity other than as operators of machines.  Dickens criticised not just the greed for profits but also the ideas that reduced human beings into simple instruments of production.
(ii) Oliver Twist : In other novels too, Dickens focused on the terrible conditions of urban life under industrial capitalism. His Oliver Twist (1838) is the tale of a poor orphan who lived in a world of petty criminals and beggars.  Brought up in a cruel workhouse, Oliver was finally adopted by a wealthy man and lived happily ever after.

(i) Cheap: Novels were very cheap as compared to manuscript. These circulated among few people. In contrast, because of being printed, novels were widely read and became popular very quickly.
(ii) Novels catered to the need of common people: Printing created an appetite for new kinds of writing. As more and more people could now read, they wanted to see their own lives, experiences, emotions and relationships reflected in what they read. Novels, ideally catered to this need. It soon acquired distinctively Indian forms and styles. For readers, it opened up new worlds of experience, and gave a vivid sense of the diversity of human lives.
(iii) New Readers: The novel first took firm root in England and France. Novels began to be written from the seventeenth century, but they really flowered from the eighteenth century. New groups of lower-middle-class people such as shopkeepers and clerks, along with the traditional aristocratic and gentlemanly classes in England and France now formed the new readership for novels.
(iv) Hiring novels: Technological improvements in printing brought down the price of books and innovations in marketing led to expanded sales. In France, publishers found that they could make super profits by hiring out novels by the hour. The novel was one of the first mass-produced items to be sold.
(v) New absorbing and believable world: The worlds created by novels were absorbing and believable, and seemingly real. While reading novels, the reader was transported to another person's world, and began looking at life as it was experienced by the characters of the novel. Besides, novels allowed individuals the pleasure of reading in private, as well as the joy of publicly reading or discussing stories with friends or relatives. In rural areas people would collect to hear one of them reading a novel aloud, often becoming deeply involved in the lives of the characters.

(i) Cheap: Novels were very cheap as compared to manuscript. These circulated among few people. In contrast, because of being printed, novels were widely read and became popular very quickly.
(ii) Novels catered to the need of common people: Printing created an appetite for new kinds of writing. As more and more people could now read, they wanted to see their own lives, experiences, emotions and relationships reflected in what they read. Novels, ideally catered to this need. It soon acquired distinctively Indian forms and styles. For readers, it opened up new worlds of experience, and gave a vivid sense of the diversity of human lives.
(iii) New Readers: The novel first took firm root in England and France. Novels began to be written from the seventeenth century, but they really flowered from the eighteenth century. New groups of lower-middle-class people such as shopkeepers and clerks, along with the traditional aristocratic and gentlemanly classes in England and France now formed the new readership for novels.
(iv) Hiring novels: Technological improvements in printing brought down the price of books and innovations in marketing led to expanded sales. In France, publishers found that they could make super profits by hiring out novels by the hour. The novel was one of the first mass-produced items to be sold.
(v) New absorbing and believable world: The worlds created by novels were absorbing and believable, and seemingly real. While reading novels, the reader was transported to another person's world, and began looking at life as it was experienced by the characters of the novel. Besides, novels allowed individuals the pleasure of reading in private, as well as the joy of publicly reading or discussing stories with friends or relatives. In rural areas people would collect to hear one of them reading a novel aloud, often becoming deeply involved in the lives of the characters.

(i) Cheap: Novels were very cheap as compared to manuscript. These circulated among few people. In contrast, because of being printed, novels were widely read and became popular very quickly.
(ii) Novels catered to the need of common people: Printing created an appetite for new kinds of writing. As more and more people could now read, they wanted to see their own lives, experiences, emotions and relationships reflected in what they read. Novels, ideally catered to this need. It soon acquired distinctively Indian forms and styles. For readers, it opened up new worlds of experience, and gave a vivid sense of the diversity of human lives.
(iii) New Readers: The novel first took firm root in England and France. Novels began to be written from the seventeenth century, but they really flowered from the eighteenth century. New groups of lower-middle-class people such as shopkeepers and clerks, along with the traditional aristocratic and gentlemanly classes in England and France now formed the new readership for novels.
(iv) Hiring novels: Technological improvements in printing brought down the price of books and innovations in marketing led to expanded sales. In France, publishers found that they could make super profits by hiring out novels by the hour. The novel was one of the first mass-produced items to be sold.
(v) New absorbing and believable world: The worlds created by novels were absorbing and believable, and seemingly real. While reading novels, the reader was transported to another person's world, and began looking at life as it was experienced by the characters of the novel. Besides, novels allowed individuals the pleasure of reading in private, as well as the joy of publicly reading or discussing stories with friends or relatives. In rural areas people would collect to hear one of them reading a novel aloud, often becoming deeply involved in the lives of the characters.