Intemperance is 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.
Support Independent Bookstores.
You can find Spotlights at LitStack on bookshop.org
In This Spotlight On Intemperance
About Intemperance
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.
Praise for Intemperance
“Jha adds depth to the brisk story with hints of the narrator’s troubled family history and sticks the landing with a surprising and rewarding conclusion. It’s a fresh and sassy take on romantic comedy conventions.”—Publishers Weekly
“Jha uses her heroine to discuss specific issues that become universal. Despite the absurdity around her, the heroine remains certain of herself and true to herself, to her benefit and detriment. Her sense of inner peace grounds the narrative.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Contemplating difficult questions about desire, aging, and cultural identity, Jha leverages humor and wisdom for an authentic, compelling blend of modern perspectives and ancient mythology. Readers who enjoyed the cultural tension in Kiley Reid’s Such a Fun Age and the midlife reckonings in Jenny Offill’s Weather will find much to appreciate in Jha’s exploration of late-in-life love, tradition, and the courage to challenge conventional expectations.”—Booklist
“Oh, what fun I had reading this wild romp of a novel. But Intemperance—narrated by one of the funniest and most charming fictional characters I’ve met in my life—is more than a good time. It’s a disarmingly honest and urgent book about the human search for love in all corners of existence: in the divine; in our fellow beings, human and not; and ultimately, within ourselves.”—Vauhini Vara, author of Searches, This Is Salvaged, and the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Immortal King Rao
“Gorgeous, witty, sexy, and smart, Intemperance is a wonderfully original tale of a woman facing off her own cynicism about love—and prevailing. Jha writes like a dream, and this book will delight you.”—Susan Orlean, New York Times bestselling author of Joyride and The Library Book
“Sonora Jha’s celebration of the pursuit of desire as a feminist act is a subversive storytelling feat: as full of heart and humor and delight in the world as its determined and brilliant heroine. Intemperance is so full of surprising pleasures and gorgeous prose that you’ll be torn between turning the pages as fast as possible and savoring every word. Buy it for your sisters and daughters and wives—and brothers and sons and husbands, too.”—V.V. Ganeshananthan, author of Brotherless Night, winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Carol Shields Prize
About Sonora Jha, Author of Intemperance
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.
You can connect with Sonora Jha on her website, Facebook and Instagram.
Source: Publisher
Publisher: HarperVia | HarperCollins
ISBN Hardcover 9780063440845
Pub Date: Oct 14, 2025
Titles by Sonora Jha and Others
Other LitStack Resources
Be sure and check out LitStack Spotlights that shine a light on books we think you should read.
As a Bookshop, Malaprop’s, BAM, Barnes & Noble, Audiobooks.com, Amazon, and Envato affiliate, LitStack may earn a commission at no cost to you when you purchase products through our affiliate links.
