Leila
As seen:
By Prayaag Akbar
avg rating
1 review
Shalini will never forget her daughter Leila’s third birthday party: it was the last time she saw her alive.
Sixteen years have passed and Shalini’s life is unrecognizable. Her husband gone: beaten and dragged from their home the night Leila disappeared. Shalini, once privileged, is now disgraced. She trawls the streets desperate to discover where Leila now lives – if she lives at all.
In this repressive state, where tradition and purity are valued above all, those outside the city walls – forced to live in filth and oppressive heat – are less than nothing. But can Shalini find a way back in? Will she see Leila again?
TweetReviews
The members of the group all felt a little disappointed with this book. Although this novel is described as an Indian The Handmaid’s Tale it did not live up to this description.
The background to the plot or setting that the main character finds herself in is not clear and not thought out and it is not until much further through the story that the reader is able to grasp anywhere close to the full picture. On the other hand, it explores and is uncomfortably relevant to the current disquiet in society not only in India but on a global level regarding control, segregation and racism.
