Shadow among Sheaves

February 11, 2019
In her strong debut, Stephens reimagines the biblical tale of Ruth and Boaz, setting the story in colonial India. After her English husband’s death during the 1857 uprisings, Rena, an Indian, commits herself to caring for her widowed mother-in-law, Nell. They travel to England where Rena faces pervasive discrimination, but finally find a local landowner who gives her a job in his grain fields. Lord Barric reluctantly becomes intrigued by hardworking, unassuming Rena. He protects her from the advances and jeers of other workers, but his helpful attentions cause problems for him with the local gentry. With locals looking down on his interest in a widowed foreigner, Barric must decide how much he will risk to do the right thing—and to pursue his desires. Rena, meanwhile, is fighting her attraction to Barric, as she feels disloyal to her dead husband’s memory. Fraught with emotional, social, and religious tensions, their effort to find love is tangled and tortuous. Stephens convincingly fleshes out her characters and crisply portrays 19th-century English sensibilities. Those familiar with the story of Ruth will notice the obvious, though loose, parallels, but Rena and Barric’s tale stands firmly on its own with surprising turns and great emotional depth.