A breathless read!
The Bandit Queens: A Novel by Parini Shroff
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A story of power and abuse and what can happen when women unite.
With the legendary figure of Phoolan Devi as an inspiration to fight injustices experienced particularly by lower class women in India, this is the story of one woman’s fight, and how the women of her village were drawn in. As Parini Shroff says in her Author’s Notes, “I kept wondering what, in a rural area of a patriarchal country, could stop any of their husbands should they choose to exert their dominance? Loans alone did not, could not eradicate female vulnerability.”
Geeta lives in such an area. Her husband was a drunk and, as we later see, had exerted Coercive Control over her. She’d eventually been left by her him. He just disappeared. The gossip in the village is that she murdered him. On the strength of this, first one woman asks for her assistance to rid themselves of their abusive spouse, then another, and another. This “ragtag cadre of avenging women”, “take back the night” as it t’were. It’s not only domestic violence portrayed, but the abuse and rape of females of the Dalit Caste that occurs when the men are out drinking, or females of a different religion, particularly young girls and women.
What can Geeta say? None of the women believe her husband has deserted her—even for strong drink. They believe the gossip. For Geeta, nothing is as it seems!
So begins an ironic comedy of errors that roils around the village, one mishap leading to another, including the securing of the dog Bandit, as the black noir of events draws to alarming conclusions followed by an interesting close.
I was glued to every page and nuance. So much to ponder on, from the caste system to religious differences and the power inequalities of the marginalized, particularly women.
A Random House - Ballantine Invitation via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change
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