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IN THE NEWS
NE Ohio Author deftly tackles India’s caste system in well-done novel
Cliff
Anthony, a journalism professor and writer in Northeast Ohio, brings
the ugliness of India’s caste system to light in his novel, “Tears in
God’s Own Country.”
By Marc Bona, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND,
Ohio – Cliff Anthony has been in this country almost 40 years, but it
was his native India that stayed with him for his novel, “Tears in God’s Own Country.”
Anthony
is originally from Kerala in southern India. He has been in the United
States since 1986, first spending time in New York City and then moving
to Northeast Ohio; his wife is from Garfield Heights. He writes and
teaches journalism at Lorain County Community College and lives in
Highland Heights.
Anthony
spent about seven years working on “Tears.” He reworked the book, which
centers around Chenda, a kettledrum-playing sweet soul who is kept down
by the color of his skin, a prejudice that stops many people from
seeing the goodness in his heart. It is set in the early 1960s.
“I put a lot of emotion in this,” Anthony said.
What
Anthony brings to life clearly is India’s caste system, a segregated
way of life, an ugly hierarchy that looms so large and important in the
book that it really should be treated as a separate character.
Read full story here
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