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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
The Good Girls: An Ordinary Killing by Sonia Faleiro
I am so glad to have come across this book. The first non-fiction book of the year came as a blessing. 2020 was not a good year all around, but specifically, it wasn't a good reading year either. I am glad that this book came to me and I was able to sit with it and finish reading it in less than a day. It is a piece of gripping literature. One of the best narrative non-fiction books I've read that relies on an honest journalistic outlook while also keeping a novelists eye for detail.
Throughout the book, Sonia Faleiro makes critical comments about various aspects about society, caste, Indian politics, criminal investigations, corruption (sometimes, all in one page it would seem).
The portraits of the people who played key roles are cutting and insightful. The manner is which she is able to keep an eye on caste and class differences and how these play up in the way people react are stunning.
At the heart of it, this book is a feminist text, as Deepa Anappara pointed out. Sonia Faleiro does not forget the women that mainstream media often sideline. She keeps the quite neighborhood women, their innocent little daughters, and the mother who descends into madness in the picture. They watch, and we watch with them how a small amount of thought is given to them. They are allowed very little room to grieve. She writes about the moment when the women decided to put themselves at the base of the tree where the girls hung and thereby registered protest and brought national media attention.
One of the best things about this book is how the writer does not let things get too technical. She is able to keep enough detail and ground her arguments and the narrative. For the dedicated reader, there are 20 pages of notes and bibliography to follow-up with. The writing also does not run the risk of having too much jargon. Lucidly written, the book is the product of four years, interviews with more than a hundred people, and reports that amounted to 3,272 pages. To say that it has been thoroughly researched, would be an understatement.
I am so glad to have come across this book. The first non-fiction book of the year came as a blessing. 2020 was not a good year all around, but specifically, it wasn't a good reading year either. I am glad that this book came to me and I was able to sit with it and finish reading it in less than a day. It is a piece of gripping literature. One of the best narrative non-fiction books I've read that relies on an honest journalistic outlook while also keeping a novelists eye for detail.
Throughout the book, Sonia Faleiro makes critical comments about various aspects about society, caste, Indian politics, criminal investigations, corruption (sometimes, all in one page it would seem).
The portraits of the people who played key roles are cutting and insightful. The manner is which she is able to keep an eye on caste and class differences and how these play up in the way people react are stunning.
At the heart of it, this book is a feminist text, as Deepa Anappara pointed out. Sonia Faleiro does not forget the women that mainstream media often sideline. She keeps the quite neighborhood women, their innocent little daughters, and the mother who descends into madness in the picture. They watch, and we watch with them how a small amount of thought is given to them. They are allowed very little room to grieve. She writes about the moment when the women decided to put themselves at the base of the tree where the girls hung and thereby registered protest and brought national media attention.
One of the best things about this book is how the writer does not let things get too technical. She is able to keep enough detail and ground her arguments and the narrative. For the dedicated reader, there are 20 pages of notes and bibliography to follow-up with. The writing also does not run the risk of having too much jargon. Lucidly written, the book is the product of four years, interviews with more than a hundred people, and reports that amounted to 3,272 pages. To say that it has been thoroughly researched, would be an understatement.
What is the shame worth?
This the question that kept nagging me a day and night after I turned the last page of this book.
The image is chilling - that of two teenaged girls hanging dead by a tree branch in an open field. What could have caused this? Who must have lead to this? How did things come to this? These are the questions @sonia.faleiro sets out to answer in her book ‘The Good Girls.’ She tries to be the objective journalist looking for answers, but how “objective” can one be when such two young girls have been found hanging dead in a field. The girls had gone off to the field as their homes did not have proper sanitation facilities. Taken out of school the girls were expected to be married off soon. When they went missing their family feared more for their honour than for their safety. The police chowki was habitually incompetent and arrogant owing to the prevailing caste dynamics. But still, what could have caused this catastrophe where little girls had been unsafe in their own household?
Every few pages the book kept introducing me to a rural India I wasn’t prepared for. One where not only did women amount to nothing, but men of caste had their own daily headaches. Caste and gender had morally, ethically and financially corrupted our system and the rot was now out in the open.
In 2014, two teenagers, cousins, in Katra Sadatganj go missing one night. The next day they are found hanging by a tree in an open field. The imagery of this goes viral provoking the collective conscience of a people who had risen for Nirbhaya just two years back. However, all the “wokeness” had fallen short of preventing this incident and an incompetent system kept failing these girls time and again.
It is nearly impossible to not be enraged for Padma and Lalli after reading this. And so, I urge all of you to please please please be enraged for them, for us and for more to come because we deserve better!
This the question that kept nagging me a day and night after I turned the last page of this book.
The image is chilling - that of two teenaged girls hanging dead by a tree branch in an open field. What could have caused this? Who must have lead to this? How did things come to this? These are the questions @sonia.faleiro sets out to answer in her book ‘The Good Girls.’ She tries to be the objective journalist looking for answers, but how “objective” can one be when such two young girls have been found hanging dead in a field. The girls had gone off to the field as their homes did not have proper sanitation facilities. Taken out of school the girls were expected to be married off soon. When they went missing their family feared more for their honour than for their safety. The police chowki was habitually incompetent and arrogant owing to the prevailing caste dynamics. But still, what could have caused this catastrophe where little girls had been unsafe in their own household?
Every few pages the book kept introducing me to a rural India I wasn’t prepared for. One where not only did women amount to nothing, but men of caste had their own daily headaches. Caste and gender had morally, ethically and financially corrupted our system and the rot was now out in the open.
In 2014, two teenagers, cousins, in Katra Sadatganj go missing one night. The next day they are found hanging by a tree in an open field. The imagery of this goes viral provoking the collective conscience of a people who had risen for Nirbhaya just two years back. However, all the “wokeness” had fallen short of preventing this incident and an incompetent system kept failing these girls time and again.
It is nearly impossible to not be enraged for Padma and Lalli after reading this. And so, I urge all of you to please please please be enraged for them, for us and for more to come because we deserve better!
• r e c o m m e n d a t i o n •
I finished reading The Good Girls sometime last week but my mind refused to write a review. My immediate feeling was that of shock. Shock from learning the incompetent manner in which the investigation was carried out. But quickly, it shifted to anger; the kind that threatens to erupt at any given moment. Anger that the girls' dignity was stripped off even in their death. For many Indian families 'honour' becomes more precious than their children. Defying honour will lead to only one thing. Death. And this burdenous thing called honour is placed on the heads of daughters, asking them to never drop it no matter what. But men can do as they please, honour or not.
In 2014, two teenage girls were found hanging from a mango tree in Katra Sadatgani in UP. Perhaps it was eerie setting in which they were found that the incident went viral on social media. Padma* (16) and Lalli*(14) were two peas in a pod, first cousins and often inseparable. The circumstances and controversy surrounding their death drew the attention of the villagers and the orchard in which they were found ultimately became a tourist sight. Faleiro, carefully dissects the events leading up to the death of the girls and provides a detailed analysis of what went wrong. When villagers noticed the two girls on their phones (which itself was a rare vision), gossip ran freely. Caste system plays a significant role even now, to an extent where honour killings are openly carried out. Where caste differences exist, there lies enmity and suspicion. People are accused for the deaths of the girls before the investigation could even begin. With a barely functional police force and a dilapidated hospital, the case was a significant mess. Lies floated around like moats of dust making it impossible for the truth to come out.
The research that has gone into this book is tremendous and it shows. It's crisp and to the point but Faleiro still manages to make it sentimental. She highlights corruption that very much prevails in our justice system and the rate of crimes against women. What happened to Padma and Lalli will forever remain a mystery; like the death of thousands of other girls.
I finished reading The Good Girls sometime last week but my mind refused to write a review. My immediate feeling was that of shock. Shock from learning the incompetent manner in which the investigation was carried out. But quickly, it shifted to anger; the kind that threatens to erupt at any given moment. Anger that the girls' dignity was stripped off even in their death. For many Indian families 'honour' becomes more precious than their children. Defying honour will lead to only one thing. Death. And this burdenous thing called honour is placed on the heads of daughters, asking them to never drop it no matter what. But men can do as they please, honour or not.
In 2014, two teenage girls were found hanging from a mango tree in Katra Sadatgani in UP. Perhaps it was eerie setting in which they were found that the incident went viral on social media. Padma* (16) and Lalli*(14) were two peas in a pod, first cousins and often inseparable. The circumstances and controversy surrounding their death drew the attention of the villagers and the orchard in which they were found ultimately became a tourist sight. Faleiro, carefully dissects the events leading up to the death of the girls and provides a detailed analysis of what went wrong. When villagers noticed the two girls on their phones (which itself was a rare vision), gossip ran freely. Caste system plays a significant role even now, to an extent where honour killings are openly carried out. Where caste differences exist, there lies enmity and suspicion. People are accused for the deaths of the girls before the investigation could even begin. With a barely functional police force and a dilapidated hospital, the case was a significant mess. Lies floated around like moats of dust making it impossible for the truth to come out.
The research that has gone into this book is tremendous and it shows. It's crisp and to the point but Faleiro still manages to make it sentimental. She highlights corruption that very much prevails in our justice system and the rate of crimes against women. What happened to Padma and Lalli will forever remain a mystery; like the death of thousands of other girls.
challenging
emotional
informative
slow-paced
This is one of the most disturbing, infuriating, heartbreaking books I have ever read (listened to). I think the author did really good job of setting the "scene" in terms of providing background context as to what being a young girl or woman in rural, poverty-stricken India is like (and I found myself having to remind myself that this happened less than 10 years ago - it feels like these girls were living in a different time). However, the case itself is so far-reaching and so poorly handled by investigators that I felt the story suffered from trying to wade through the bog of lies, misinformation and clear attempts by law enforcement to brush this case under the rug. The narrative jumped all over the place and I found myself getting a bit lost at times.
By the time we got to the "conclusion" of the case (if you can call it that), the epilogue and the author's note, I was furious. It's the middle of my work day and I had to go take a walk to calm down my nervous system. I'll be thinking about these poor girls, their families and this story as a whole for a long time.
By the time we got to the "conclusion" of the case (if you can call it that), the epilogue and the author's note, I was furious. It's the middle of my work day and I had to go take a walk to calm down my nervous system. I'll be thinking about these poor girls, their families and this story as a whole for a long time.
dark
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
challenging
informative
informative
sad
The author does an amazing job painting a clear picture of neglect and inadequacy of the UP, and (unlicensed) Pathologist involved in the case. Even the family themselves were unreliable for witness testimony. It covers the Caste system, and how along with sexism and perpetual rape culture in India, makes room for honor killings and abuse of power for lower caste and women/girls.
Overall, this is a book that deserved a spot on the Bestseller list. It raises awareness, and never handles topics insensitively. It’s respectful, and does not take a side - though the author sometimes delivers clever humor that can be missed. I found this novel beautiful and heartbreaking, I wrote down the names. I know they have been changed, but it meant no less to me. I’m so glad I have been given a chance to read this.
I found the Huffington Post article that posted the image of the girl’s bodies, and was disgusted that they falsley reported as fact that these girls committed suicide. They showed every intention of living, they even had just got 100 rupees to spend. This is an attempt of the bureau to ignore the way India horrifically treats it’s women and girls. When they couldn’t blame anyone else due to them ruining evidence, they tried to blame the girls themselves.
This book also made me look into Indian Documentaries on life there, especially for Lower caste and women. The book does an amazing way of showing this without having to tell you a whole lot. It conveys the aspects of life perfectly, in a shorter time then the documentaries. Overall, a good read - but one that is serious, and depressing. It still does not block out the light of both girls lives though.
The only thing I suggest is keeping this cover, and switching the Amazon one.
Thank you sincerely to Netgalley and the Publisher, for giving me a copy of the ARC to read. I loved and appreciated it, and plan on buying.
Overall, this is a book that deserved a spot on the Bestseller list. It raises awareness, and never handles topics insensitively. It’s respectful, and does not take a side - though the author sometimes delivers clever humor that can be missed. I found this novel beautiful and heartbreaking, I wrote down the names. I know they have been changed, but it meant no less to me. I’m so glad I have been given a chance to read this.
I found the Huffington Post article that posted the image of the girl’s bodies, and was disgusted that they falsley reported as fact that these girls committed suicide. They showed every intention of living, they even had just got 100 rupees to spend. This is an attempt of the bureau to ignore the way India horrifically treats it’s women and girls. When they couldn’t blame anyone else due to them ruining evidence, they tried to blame the girls themselves.
This book also made me look into Indian Documentaries on life there, especially for Lower caste and women. The book does an amazing way of showing this without having to tell you a whole lot. It conveys the aspects of life perfectly, in a shorter time then the documentaries. Overall, a good read - but one that is serious, and depressing. It still does not block out the light of both girls lives though.
The only thing I suggest is keeping this cover, and switching the Amazon one.
Thank you sincerely to Netgalley and the Publisher, for giving me a copy of the ARC to read. I loved and appreciated it, and plan on buying.