LitPick Review
Thoroughly thought provoking and truthful, this is the story of a young Hindu woman named Smitha, following her through her teenage years, and then onto her adult life. She does not agree with her religion's (Hindu's) view on arranged marriages, and watching as her sisters marriage falls and crumbles, she wishes to have a choice in whom she marries, and so sets out on a quest to become someone in the world. Written in four sections, each follows a different part of her life, it switches in part three to following her son Bhaskar's story. Set in the late 1940's and onward, it is a story that fully reminds the you, the reader, of the free life we have: women treated with equal status and rights, not just a possession of their husbands.
Opinion:
Like books such as '(un)arranged marriage' by Bali Rai, as a reader you come to understand a little more of what it would be like to have you're life planned for you. As in the books mentioned above, Smitha is determined not to be shaped and moulded by her parents and influential figures around her, and this is what she sets out to do. The 'voice' in which it is written is not amusing or soft, but quite the opposite; it tells it like it is. Personally, I found it hard to relate to, due to the fact it is written so bluntly, but it does get to the point quickly. The ending comes together well, with only one question left un-answered, but then the question in itself is a little confusing! Even though the pace of the story is rather fast, it's a light read and short too, at approx 160 pages. I would recommend this book for you if you enjoy religious books about other culture or stories about women's rights and it would be a great study tool in Religious Education!
