Last month my library book club read The Bandit Queens, the debut novel by Parini Shroff. Set in rural India in current time, the plot features a group of women who're members of a micro-loan group. Living in a small village, there are few secrets, and gossip is a key part of their meetings.
In a culture where a woman's value is determined by her husband, Geeta is an outlier; her husband disappeared several years ago and it's assumed she killed him. This reputation has far-reaching consequences, especially when she's consulted for her perceived expertise in murder. The plot, full of dark humor, is based on Phoolan Devi, an actual woman known as The Bandit Queen.
This book was a window into a culture I know woefully little about. I was particularly interested in the examples of a rigid caste system and differences in religious customs. Given that the author is an attorney, her exploration of committing crimes for a greater good is fascinating. While there were moments when I wasn't sure where the story was going, overall I enjoyed the reading experience it and prompted interesting discussions among our book club members.
The author's note concludes with a very powerful quote about fiction that resonates with me: âFor me, fiction is when research meets compassion; I believe this is often why facts don't change people's minds, but stories do.â
In a culture where a woman's value is determined by her husband, Geeta is an outlier; her husband disappeared several years ago and it's assumed she killed him. This reputation has far-reaching consequences, especially when she's consulted for her perceived expertise in murder. The plot, full of dark humor, is based on Phoolan Devi, an actual woman known as The Bandit Queen.
This book was a window into a culture I know woefully little about. I was particularly interested in the examples of a rigid caste system and differences in religious customs. Given that the author is an attorney, her exploration of committing crimes for a greater good is fascinating. While there were moments when I wasn't sure where the story was going, overall I enjoyed the reading experience it and prompted interesting discussions among our book club members.
The author's note concludes with a very powerful quote about fiction that resonates with me: âFor me, fiction is when research meets compassion; I believe this is often why facts don't change people's minds, but stories do.â
This darkly funny book really did make me laugh out loud. I enjoyed being transported to India, a place I don't usually encounter in my fiction. On the one hand the village women are empowered business owners with a mircroloan group and access to CSI TV shows to help them plan their crimes. On the other hand, men control many of the seats on the village council and the story's lead is still saving up to buy a refrigerator. There are depictions of violence against women. There are also lovely, sarcastic, and funny moments demonstrating the varaiations in women's friendships and mothers relationships with their children.
