Marguerite Duras is a widely read and critically acclaimed French writer of the twentieth century. Duras is no stranger to India. Her “India Cycle Series” had India as the background. However, Duras’ works have not found a loyal readership in the country, maybe because of the deceptively scattered looking nature of some of her major works. Another reason could be that none of Duras’s works have been translated into any of the Indian languages.

This translation brings to those in Kerala, an opportunity to read Duras in Malayalam. Sreedevi K Nair has moved into the language, this intense story of love/pranayam as she has decided to translate the title into Malayalam, adding that delicate scent of the distant seas to Duras’ smouldering prose. It reminds us of a fresh and clear morning on a beach after a particularly fierce bout of rain.