By Rashi Rohatgi
Galaxy Galloper 2020
270 pages Historical Fiction
The Shortlist
Here is the book summary:
“It's 1905, and the Japanese
victory over the Russians has shocked the British and their imperial subjects.
Sixteen-year-old Leela and her younger sister, Maya, are spurred on to wear
homespun to show the British that the Indians won't be oppressed for much
longer, either, but when Leela's betrothed, Nash, asks her to circulate a
petition amongst her classmates to desegregate the girls' school in Chandrapur,
she's wary. She needs to remind Maya that the old ways are not all bad, for
soon Maya will have to join her own betrothed and his family in their quiet
village. When she discovers that Maya has embarked on a forbidden romance,
Leela's response shocks her family, her town, and her country firmly into the
new century.”
India in the early 1900s is a part
of history that I knew very little about, other than a couple of movies—Gandhi,
and A Passage to India. I had a vague understanding of the conflict
between the Hindu and Muslim cultures of India and Pakistan, a subject dealt
with extensively in the book. The two young women are attempting to negotiate
life during a volatile time in Indian history. I enjoyed reading about the role of women and how Maya and Leela were attempting to alter history.
I found the novelized history of
that time to be fascinating, knowing that the Hindu-Muslim conflict continues in
the region. The Kirkus
reviewer says, “The novel does an excellent job of placing readers directly
into the politics of the time, highlighting the clash between old and new and
between the region’s various subcultures.”
I am even more fascinated by the
biography of the author Rashi Rohalgi, Wow! I would really like to meet her!
She has studied marginalized peoples and lesser-known histories and is a
professor of world literature in Norway. You will need to read her biography on
her website to get the full picture
of her incredible life journey. Here, also,
is an interview with her as the book Where the Sun Will Rise Tomorrow
was released earlier this week.
Beautiful characters. Beautiful
cover. Fans of historical fiction will really enjoy this book.
No comments:
Post a Comment