About this Event
Join journalist, Seattle University professor, and author of Foreign, The Laughter, and How to Raise a Feminist Son, Sonora Jha, for the launch of her new novel, Intemperance, a satirical feminist novel about a woman of a certain age who sparks a firestorm when she holds a contest, based on a fabled Indian custom, in which men compete to win her affections.
To celebrate her upcoming birthday, a woman announces she will hold a swayamvar—a custom in her native Indian culture from ancient times in which suitors compete in a feat of wills and strength to win the hand of a beautiful princess. A respected intellectual living in Seattle, the twice-divorced woman once declared that she was “past such petty matters as love,” but her overwhelming need to bolster her self-esteem and satisfy her sexual libido can no longer be denied.
In doing something so romantically whimsical, she prepares herself to be laughed at by her friends, neighbors, and colleagues. Yet, to her surprise, she receives support from a circle of ardent admirers, including a wedding planner looking for the next enchanting thing, a disability rights activist making a documentary film, and even, her reluctant adult son. She also faces unexpected detractors—the Men's Rights Movement, angry at her objectification of men, protest the project. And there are visits from goddesses and princesses past who both try to stop her and cheer her on. She must also reckon with her family’s past and the terrible curse on those members who show an intemperance of spirit.
As her carefully laid-out plan explodes into spectacle, the woman must decide the perfect feat her prospective suitors need to perform to win her aging hand. What feat will define a newer, better masculinity? What feat will it take for her to trust in the tenderness of love?
A humorous and pointed fable for our times, Intemperance is also a beautiful meditation on aging, romance, love, and hope.
Sonora Jha is the author of the novels The Laughter and Foreign, and the memoir How to Raise a Feminist Son. After a career as a journalist covering crime, politics, and culture in India and Singapore, she moved to the United States to earn a PhD in media and public affairs. Sonora and her work have been featured in the New York Times and literary anthologies, on the BBC, and elsewhere. Formerly a journalist in India and Singapore, she is now a Loyola Endowed Professor at Seattle University and lives in Seattle.
Daniel Tam-Claiborne is a multiracial writer, multimedia producer, and nonprofit director. His debut novel, Transplants (Simon & Schuster, 2025), was a finalist for the 2023 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction. He lives with his wife and daughter in Seattle and serves on the Board of Directors of Seattle City of Literature.
Amber Flame is deputy publisher and cofounder at Generous Press, an inclusive romance press. She is a multi-genre writer, educator, and arts administrator serving as program director for Hedgebrook. Flame is the author of the poetry collections Ordinary Cruelty and apocrifa.
Pre-order your copy of Intemperance here!
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Elliott Bay Book Company, 1521 10th Avenue, Seattle, United States
USD 0.00
