Bem Le Hunte
Encyclopedia
Bem Le Hunte is an India
n - English
- Australia
n author whose internationally-published novels, The Seduction of Silence (2002) and There, Where the Pepper Grows (2006) have gained her numerous positive reviews and a wide, appreciative readership in the Eastern
and the Western world
.
, the fourth child in a family with an Indian mother and English father. She grew up in India and England, receiving her education at Godolphin and Latymer School
in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
. She then spent a year studying journalism before continuing on to Cambridge University, from which she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
in Social Anthropology
and a Master of Arts. She subsequently traveled the world, living in Japan
and the U.S., where she spent time in Chicago
. She then returned to India, living in Delhi
and working on short films for the United Nations
during the International Decade of Women's Development.
as "ample and fascinating". The book achieved wide success, and was published by HarperCollins
in U.S. and Australia and by Penguin Group
in India. It was translated into Polish
under the title, Kuszące Wołanie Ciszy and published by Kameleon. Four years later, in 2006, her second novel, There, Where the Pepper Grows, a tale about a Polish-Jewish family which disembarks in Kolkata while en route to Palestine
during World War II
, was published internationally by HarperCollins.
Bem Le Hunte lives in Sydney with her husband Jan and sons Taliesin, Rishi and Kashi.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n - English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
- Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n author whose internationally-published novels, The Seduction of Silence (2002) and There, Where the Pepper Grows (2006) have gained her numerous positive reviews and a wide, appreciative readership in the Eastern
Eastern world
__FORCETOC__The term Eastern world refers very broadly to the various cultures or social structures and philosophical systems of Eastern Asia or geographically the Eastern Culture...
and the Western world
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
.
Before 1989
Bem Le Hunte was born in KolkataKolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, the fourth child in a family with an Indian mother and English father. She grew up in India and England, receiving her education at Godolphin and Latymer School
Godolphin and Latymer School
The Godolphin and Latymer School is an independent school for 700 girls aged eleven to eighteen in London. Ms Margaret Rudland was the head mistress of the school for over 20 years before being succeeded by Ms Ruth Mercer.-History:...
in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham is a London borough in West London, and forms part of Inner London. Traversed by the east-west main roads of the A4 Great West Road and the A40 Westway, many international corporations have offices in the borough....
. She then spent a year studying journalism before continuing on to Cambridge University, from which she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in Social Anthropology
Social anthropology
Social Anthropology is one of the four or five branches of anthropology that studies how contemporary human beings behave in social groups. Practitioners of social anthropology investigate, often through long-term, intensive field studies , the social organization of a particular person: customs,...
and a Master of Arts. She subsequently traveled the world, living in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and the U.S., where she spent time in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. She then returned to India, living in Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
and working on short films for the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
during the International Decade of Women's Development.
Move to Australia in 1989 and start of writing career
At the age of 25, she moved to Australia and, within a few weeks, was lecturing full time in the Humanities Department of Sydney University. The Seduction of Silence, published after thirteen years of living in her new homeland, hearkens back to her original heritage as she unfolds the story of an Indian family and the monumental changes it undergoes through love and loss over a period of a hundred years. The book's prose was described by Geraldine Brooks as "vivid and arresting" and by Thomas KeneallyThomas Keneally
Thomas Michael Keneally, AO is an Australian novelist, playwright and author of non-fiction. He is best known for writing Schindler's Ark, the Booker Prize-winning novel of 1982 which was inspired by the efforts of Poldek Pfefferberg, a Holocaust survivor...
as "ample and fascinating". The book achieved wide success, and was published by HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
in U.S. and Australia and by Penguin Group
Penguin Group
The Penguin Group is a trade book publisher, the largest in the world , having overtaken Random House in 2009. The Penguin Group is the name of the incorporated division of parent Pearson PLC that oversees these publishing operations...
in India. It was translated into Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
under the title, Kuszące Wołanie Ciszy and published by Kameleon. Four years later, in 2006, her second novel, There, Where the Pepper Grows, a tale about a Polish-Jewish family which disembarks in Kolkata while en route to Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, was published internationally by HarperCollins.
Bem Le Hunte lives in Sydney with her husband Jan and sons Taliesin, Rishi and Kashi.