Sonora Jha with Claire Dederer — Intemperance: A Novel

Third Place Books welcomes Washington State Book Award–winning author Sonora Jha for a conversation about her new novel, 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. Sonora will be joined in discussion by celebrated critic and memoirist Claire Dederer.

"Sonora Jha is a master at writing about what's just below the surface. . Intemperance unearths the subterranean and puts questions of desire, attraction, ableism (and more) out into the open for all to see." —Zac Fletcher, Third Place Books bookseller

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The author of the critically acclaimed The Laughter—winner of the Washington State Book Award—returns with this 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.

Claire Dederer is the author of Love and Trouble, and the New York Times best-selling memoir Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses, which has been translated into twelve languages. A book critic, essayist, and reporter, Dederer is a longtime contributor to The New York Times and has also written for The Atlantic, Vogue, Slate, The Nation, and New York magazine. She lives near Seattle with her family. (Photo credit: Stanton J. Stephens)

Founded in 1998 in Lake Forest Park, Washington, Third Place Books is dedicated to the creation of a community around books and the ideas inside them. With locations in Lake Forest Park and Seattle's Ravenna and Seward Park neighborhoods, Third Place Books is proud to serve the entire Seattle metro area. Learn more about their event series at thirdplacebooks.com/events.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Third Place Books Ravenna, 6504 20th Avenue Northeast, Seattle, United States