Duranta Dupur Bishad Sandhya by Dr Soumya Bhattacharya [Hardcover]

"From 1899 to 1910, Soumya Bhattacharya's Bengali Renaissance novel series spans the 19th and 20th centuries. This period marked the critical and gradual decline of the Indian Renaissance centered in Kolkata. The era was witness to a revival in music, literature, art, scientific research, religious movements, social and national consciousness—characterized by conflicts, unions, agreements, and clashes. The main protagonist of this epic narrative in novel form is time itself, with various contemporary luminaries like Vivekananda, Rabindranath, Jagadish Chandra, Nivedita, Curzon, Kitchener, and almost all influential figures of that era playing different roles at different points in time.

Readers have already encountered many of these characters in the previously published first two volumes, ‘Nabobarsho’ (New Light) and ‘Sonali Shokal’ (Golden Morning). The current edition brings together the third volume, ‘Duronto Dupur’ (Unstoppable Noon), and the fourth volume, ‘Bishad Sandhya’ (Dusk of Sorrow). The naming of these volumes consciously signifies different phases of a nation's life—dawn, noon, and dusk. Each volume's conclusion is marked by the death or departure of a historical figure. The first volume, ‘Nabobarsho’, concludes with the death of Swami Vivekananda on July 4, 1902. The second volume, ‘Sonali Shokal’, ends with the passing of Maharshi Devendranath Tagore on January 19, 1905. The third volume, ‘Duronto Dupur’, ends with the death of Brahmabandhab Upadhyay in October 1907, coinciding with the heightening anti-Partition of Bengal movement. The fourth volume, ‘Bishad Sandhya’, marks the beginning of extremist politics in Bengal and concludes in April 1910 with Aurobindo's departure from Bengal to Pondicherry.

This expansive four-volume novel series is connected by the journey of another historical character—from a rebellious boy to a disobedient adolescent, and finally to a fearless, detached young man, who later became a famous writer and filmmaker—Premankur Atarthi."