
Faint Promise of Rain
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Meetu Chilana
About this listen
It is 1554. On a rare night of rain in the desert of Rajasthan, India, a daughter, Adhira, is born to a family of Hindu temple dancers just as a new Mughal emperor takes the throne.
Fearing a bleak future, her father puts his faith in tradition and in his last child for each to save the other: He insists Adhira "marry" the temple deity and give herself to a wealthy patron. But after one terrible evening, she makes a bold choice that carries her family's story and their dance to a startling new beginning.
Told from the perspective of this exquisite dancer and filled with the sounds, sights, and flavors of the Indian desert, Faint Promise of Rain is the story of a family and a girl caught between art, duty, and fear in a changing world.
Shortlisted for the 2016 William Saroyan Prize for International Writing
©2014 Anjali Mitter Duva (P)2016 Anjali Mitter DuvaListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Vanishing Half
- A GMA Book Club Pick (A Novel)
- By: Brit Bennett
- Narrated by: Shayna Small
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, Southern Black community and running away at age 16, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: Their families, their communities, their racial identities. Many years later, one sister lives with her Black daughter in the same Southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for White, and her White husband knows nothing of her past.
-
-
Soap opera material
- By Sheila S on 06-06-20
By: Brit Bennett
-
Counted with the Stars
- Out from Egypt, Book 1
- By: Connilyn Cossette
- Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sold into slavery by her father and forsaken by the man she was supposed to marry, young Egyptian Kiya must serve a mistress who takes pleasure in her humiliation. When terrifying plagues strike Egypt, Kiya is in the middle of it all. Choosing to flee with the Hebrews, Kiya finds herself reliant on a strange God and drawn to a man who despises her people. With everything she's ever known swept away, and now facing the trials of the desert, will she turn back toward Egypt or surrender her life and her future to Yahweh?
-
-
It had potential but fell a little flat
- By Amanda on 02-22-18
-
Rebel Queen
- A Novel
- By: Michelle Moran
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the British Empire sets its sights on India in the mid-nineteenth century, it expects a quick and easy conquest. India is fractured and divided into kingdoms, each independent and wary of one another, seemingly no match for the might of the English. But when they arrive in the Kingdom of Jhansi, the British army is met with a surprising challenge.
-
-
Very entertaining
- By Riverderby on 04-29-15
By: Michelle Moran
-
Sword and Verse
- By: Kathy MacMillan
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Raisa was just a child when she was sold into slavery in the kingdom of Qilara. Before she was taken away, her father had been adamant that she learn to read and write. But where she now lives, literacy is a capital offense for all but the nobility. The written language is closely protected, and only the king, prince, tutor, and tutor-in-training are allowed to learn its very highest form.
-
-
Hormonal Teenagers in the middle of a Slave Revolt
- By Natalie C on 01-21-16
By: Kathy MacMillan
-
The Girl of Fire and Thorns Stories
- By: Rae Carson
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ikeda, Luis Moreno
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The King's Guard, watch him prove himself - and uncover a secret that he must keep forever. In The Shadow Cats, discover how Elisa's rivalry with her older sister looks from Alodia's point of view, and why Alodia agrees to marry her sister off to King Alejandro. And in The Shattered Mountain, learn how Mara survived her village's destruction before she became Elisa's best friend and handmaiden.
-
-
Very intense
- By Bruce on 03-22-18
By: Rae Carson
-
The Centurion’s Wife
- Acts of Faith, Book 1
- By: Janette Oke, Davis Bunn
- Narrated by: Susan Lyons
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Three-time Christy Award winner Davis Bunn collaborates with Janette Oke to evoke the tumult of first-century Judea in the wake of Christ’s crucifixion. Although she prefers service in Pontius Pilate’s palace to a loveless marriage, Leah is betrothed to a Roman centurion. Before he can have Leah, however, he must go on a secret mission. But when a rabbi’s missing body sends Leah and Alban after the same answers, what they discover could change all they hold dear.
-
-
More people should listen to this Excellent book.
- By Bob on 02-13-13
By: Janette Oke, and others
-
The Vanishing Half
- A GMA Book Club Pick (A Novel)
- By: Brit Bennett
- Narrated by: Shayna Small
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, Southern Black community and running away at age 16, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: Their families, their communities, their racial identities. Many years later, one sister lives with her Black daughter in the same Southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for White, and her White husband knows nothing of her past.
-
-
Soap opera material
- By Sheila S on 06-06-20
By: Brit Bennett
-
Counted with the Stars
- Out from Egypt, Book 1
- By: Connilyn Cossette
- Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sold into slavery by her father and forsaken by the man she was supposed to marry, young Egyptian Kiya must serve a mistress who takes pleasure in her humiliation. When terrifying plagues strike Egypt, Kiya is in the middle of it all. Choosing to flee with the Hebrews, Kiya finds herself reliant on a strange God and drawn to a man who despises her people. With everything she's ever known swept away, and now facing the trials of the desert, will she turn back toward Egypt or surrender her life and her future to Yahweh?
-
-
It had potential but fell a little flat
- By Amanda on 02-22-18
-
Rebel Queen
- A Novel
- By: Michelle Moran
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the British Empire sets its sights on India in the mid-nineteenth century, it expects a quick and easy conquest. India is fractured and divided into kingdoms, each independent and wary of one another, seemingly no match for the might of the English. But when they arrive in the Kingdom of Jhansi, the British army is met with a surprising challenge.
-
-
Very entertaining
- By Riverderby on 04-29-15
By: Michelle Moran
-
Sword and Verse
- By: Kathy MacMillan
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Raisa was just a child when she was sold into slavery in the kingdom of Qilara. Before she was taken away, her father had been adamant that she learn to read and write. But where she now lives, literacy is a capital offense for all but the nobility. The written language is closely protected, and only the king, prince, tutor, and tutor-in-training are allowed to learn its very highest form.
-
-
Hormonal Teenagers in the middle of a Slave Revolt
- By Natalie C on 01-21-16
By: Kathy MacMillan
-
The Girl of Fire and Thorns Stories
- By: Rae Carson
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ikeda, Luis Moreno
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The King's Guard, watch him prove himself - and uncover a secret that he must keep forever. In The Shadow Cats, discover how Elisa's rivalry with her older sister looks from Alodia's point of view, and why Alodia agrees to marry her sister off to King Alejandro. And in The Shattered Mountain, learn how Mara survived her village's destruction before she became Elisa's best friend and handmaiden.
-
-
Very intense
- By Bruce on 03-22-18
By: Rae Carson
-
The Centurion’s Wife
- Acts of Faith, Book 1
- By: Janette Oke, Davis Bunn
- Narrated by: Susan Lyons
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Three-time Christy Award winner Davis Bunn collaborates with Janette Oke to evoke the tumult of first-century Judea in the wake of Christ’s crucifixion. Although she prefers service in Pontius Pilate’s palace to a loveless marriage, Leah is betrothed to a Roman centurion. Before he can have Leah, however, he must go on a secret mission. But when a rabbi’s missing body sends Leah and Alban after the same answers, what they discover could change all they hold dear.
-
-
More people should listen to this Excellent book.
- By Bob on 02-13-13
By: Janette Oke, and others
-
In the Kingdom of Ice
- The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette
- By: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the late nineteenth century, people were obsessed by one of the last unmapped areas of the globe: The North Pole. No one knew what existed beyond the fortress of ice rimming the northern oceans. On July 8, 1879, the USS Jeannette set sail from San Francisco to cheering crowds in the grip of "Arctic Fever." The ship sailed into uncharted seas, but soon was trapped in pack ice. Two years into the harrowing voyage, the hull was breached. Amid the rush of water and the shrieks of breaking wooden boards, the crew abandoned the ship.
-
-
Superb tale that unravels at an iceburg's pace
- By Mel on 03-19-15
By: Hampton Sides
-
Imhotep
- By: Jerry Dubs
- Narrated by: Clay Lomakayu
- Length: 19 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stumbling in the dark of an unfinished tomb beneath the sands of Saqqara, American tourist Tim Hope unknowingly passes through a time portal that leads to ancient Egypt: a time before the Sphinx, before the great pyramids of Giza, and long before the loss of his beloved Addy.
-
-
the main character has a pedophile relationship
- By LCNanny on 07-30-16
By: Jerry Dubs
-
Sea People
- The Puzzle of Polynesia
- By: Christina Thompson
- Narrated by: Susan Lyons
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A thrilling, intellectual detective story that looks deep into the past to uncover who first settled the islands of the remote Pacific, where they came from, how they got there, and how we know.
-
-
Long Lost History
- By Than on 04-19-19
-
The Sekhmet Bed
- The She-King, #1
- By: L.M. Ironside
- Narrated by: Amanda C. Miller
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The second daughter of the Pharaoh, Ahmose has always dreamed of a quiet life as a priestess, serving Egypt's gods, ministering to the people of the Two Lands. But when the Pharaoh dies without an heir, she is given instead as Great Royal Wife to the new king - a soldier of common birth. For Ahmose is god-chosen, gifted with the ability to read dreams, and it is her connection to the gods which ensures the new Pharaoh his right to rule.
-
-
Never listened to a story about Egypt before...
- By E. M. on 12-14-13
By: L.M. Ironside
-
1177 B.C. (Revised and Updated)
- The Year Civilization Collapsed
- By: Eric H. Cline
- Narrated by: Eric H. Cline
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This audiobook narrated by acclaimed archaeologist and best-selling author Eric Cline offers a breathtaking account of how the collapse of an ancient civilized world ushered in the first Dark Ages.
-
-
Look past the one-star reviews: this is an enlightening and engaging read.
- By Alonzo Nightjar on 03-07-22
By: Eric H. Cline
-
The Moon in the Palace
- The Empress of Bright Moon, Book 1
- By: Weina Dai Randel
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There is no easy path for a woman aspiring to power. A concubine at the palace learns quickly that there are many ways to capture the emperor's attention. Many paint their faces white and style their hair attractively, hoping to lure in the One Above All with their beauty. Some present him with fantastic gifts, such as jade pendants and scrolls of calligraphy, while others rely on their knowledge of seduction to draw his interest. But young Mei knows nothing of these womanly arts, yet she will give the emperor a gift he can never forget.
-
-
One of the most annoying narrations
- By Foodiewife on 01-28-17
By: Weina Dai Randel
-
The Spear Cuts Through Water
- A Novel
- By: Simon Jimenez
- Narrated by: Joel de la Fuente
- Length: 17 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The people suffer under the centuries-long rule of the Moon Throne. The royal family—the despotic emperor and his monstrous sons, the Three Terrors—hold the countryside in their choking grip. They bleed the land and oppress the citizens with the frightful powers they inherited from the god locked under their palace.
-
-
Unlistenable
- By Justin West on 08-01-24
By: Simon Jimenez
-
Temper the Wind
- Days of the Judges Book 1
- By: Mary Ellen Boyd
- Narrated by: Satauna Howery
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For 18 years, Gilead has been under relentless attack from neighboring Ammon. Javan, a tall, handsome Israelite warrior, has lost everything during the Ammonite attacks. The sole survivor of his family, possessor of nothing but burned land, he joined with Jepthah's army to bring vengeance, decimating 20 cities along the Israelite/Ammonite border. During the mopping-up after the last victorious battle, Javan finds Taleh hiding in the remnants of her house.
-
-
Old Testament War between Israelites and Ammonites
- By Debbie on 07-18-16
By: Mary Ellen Boyd
-
In the Shadow of the Banyan
- A Novel
- By: Vaddey Ratner
- Narrated by: Greta Lee
- Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For seven-year-old Raami, the shattering end of childhood begins with the footsteps of her father returning home in the early dawn hours bringing details of the civil war that has overwhelmed the streets of Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital. Soon the family’s world of carefully guarded royal privilege is swept up in the chaos of revolution and forced exodus. Over the next four years, as she endures the deaths of family members, starvation, and brutal forced labor, Raami clings to the only remaining vestige of childhood - the mythical legends and poems told to her by her father.
-
-
A Terrible Tale from A Beautiful Storywriter
- By Mel on 08-23-12
By: Vaddey Ratner
-
The Beast Player
- By: Nahoko Uehashi, Cathy Hirano - translator
- Narrated by: Caitlin Kelly
- Length: 14 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nahoko Uehashi's The Beast Player is an epic YA fantasy about a girl with a special power to communicate with magical beasts and the warring kingdom only she can save.
-
-
A lovely, calming world to get away in
- By Hadley on 06-14-19
By: Nahoko Uehashi, and others
-
Desired
- The Untold Story of Samson and Delilah
- By: Ginger Garrett
- Narrated by: Rebecca Gallagher
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Three women loved him. Two betrayed him. One fulfilled his destiny. Desired tells the story of the legendary strongman through the eyes of the three most important women in his life. The fiercely loving Jewish mother who nags him toward greatness … and rebellion. The impoverished Philistine girl, Amara, who becomes Samson’s bride. And the emotionally damaged seductress—the legendary Delilah—who becomes the instrument of his destruction and the key to his tragic triumph.
-
-
really cool perspective on this story
- By Lisa on 02-11-13
By: Ginger Garrett
-
In the Shadow of Sinai
- Journey to Canaan
- By: Carole Towriss
- Narrated by: Daniel Koehn
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bezalel is a Hebrew slave to Ramses II. An artisan of the highest order, Ramses has kept him in the palace even when all other Israelites have been banned. Bezalel blames El Shaddai for isolating him from his people. When Moses and Aaron appear one summer, and El Shaddai shakes Egypt to its core, Bezalel must reexamine his anger. Over the course of the next year, Bezalel's life becomes intertwined with those of an Egyptian child-slave, the captain of the guard, and especially a beautiful young concubine.
-
-
Simply Beautiful!
- By Ben. B on 01-14-15
By: Carole Towriss
Through the story we follow the life of Adhira as her very birth, taking place during a rain in the middle of a drought, becomes a sign of blessing. Through her eyes as the beloved youngest child, we experience her world beginning near the fortress city of Jaisalmer during the time of the Moghal Emperor Akbar whose armies are sweeping through India. Here again we have the clash of religion and cultures; Islam vs. Hindu without the gory details.
Much of young Adhira’s family life centers on the Hindu temple as we learn about the duties, life and expectations of devadasis, temple dancers. It becomes apparent that, even as a very young child, she has a natural gift of rhythm and dance. As the temple dance master, her father’s regular presence at the temple allows Adhira to learn the storied dances of Krishna at an early age. She feels called to temple life, not knowing the “dark” side of the devadasi duties and too young to understand the sacrifices the life requires and the conflicting family opinions of temple life during wartime bring conflict and unrest.
As a life-long dancer, learning about this dance form was fascinating for me and has prompted additional research and study. As a reader, I was carried along with the tales and could hear the clinking of the bells and musical descriptions that could have, in the hands of a less skilled author, become too involved for westerners like me, who are unfamiliar with these stories. However, the author adeptly relayed the nature of the dance and storyline without making it tedious.
This is an excellent example of why I enjoy historical fiction. Learning about a foreign culture and time period, not through lectures, but through well-researched story telling that makes the reader emotionally involved in the lives of the characters is intensely rewarding. Duva does an expert job of drawing the reader/listener into the world of the devadasis, the Hindu temple dancers. Everything from their colorful costumes, jewelry and dance rhythms to their required commitment to “patrons” for financial support comes to light.
I found the story engaging, the characters well developed and the setting, which was so foreign to what I know, well played. I cared about what happened to these characters and enjoyed the interactions between them. Even now, several weeks after finishing the book, as I read the names of the various characters, I smile with remembrance, as if they are old friends. This was a truly engaging reading experience, highly recommended for anyone interested in historical or literary fiction.
I look forward to her next work.
Amazing example of delights of Historical Fiction!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It was magnificent and captivating.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This was a very descriptive novel, and the descriptions are very good. Dances, ceremonies and character interaction is described beautifully. The dichotomy of who you want to be and who you are expected to be is examined as the main plot of the novel and it is beautiful.
However, the writing style was rather hard, making it a bit difficult to listen to and to follow. I lost my place a few times and needed to go back and catch up.
Descriptive
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A Shower of Beautiful Writing
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A fascinating debut
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
So engaging - magical!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.