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spaces_and_solaces's review
5.0
Hindu and Muslim.
Words heavy with history, laden with complex emotions. Grief and anger rise within me, a lament for manipulated faith and a yearning for love's embrace. I recall past tolerance, but now, intolerance flares when narratives lack compassion. Perhaps soon, quietude will return, but for now, the fire burns.
The book's opening salvo, "largest peacetime migration," jarred me. Peace? This was anything but. And that's where the author delves, her collection of stories almost reads like a vignette, in a shared diary of trauma. A paired short story can be beautiful and cruel at the same time, when you see wisps of what the person could have been and what the person is. The weight of history hangs heavy in this collection that transcends mere storytelling to become a poignant exploration of identity, faith, and the enduring scars of forced migration. The title, referring to the millions of women "recovered" during the Partition, carries a bitter irony, visible throughout the book. Rao delves into themes rarely discussed, including the impact of migration on women, homosexuality, marital rape, and the lingering wounds of violence. These stories are unsettling, raw, and necessary. As the author reclaims their dignity, the characters take on a powerful prose, gripping their identity even more securely. They have been broken within and in so many places that it’s easier to see the shards of hope filling their cracks, but oh so powerful.
I loved this book, a collection of stories that were lyrical in their melancholy & i hope you do too.
Disclaimer - rape, marital rape, violence, abuse, infidelity..
Words heavy with history, laden with complex emotions. Grief and anger rise within me, a lament for manipulated faith and a yearning for love's embrace. I recall past tolerance, but now, intolerance flares when narratives lack compassion. Perhaps soon, quietude will return, but for now, the fire burns.
The book's opening salvo, "largest peacetime migration," jarred me. Peace? This was anything but. And that's where the author delves, her collection of stories almost reads like a vignette, in a shared diary of trauma. A paired short story can be beautiful and cruel at the same time, when you see wisps of what the person could have been and what the person is. The weight of history hangs heavy in this collection that transcends mere storytelling to become a poignant exploration of identity, faith, and the enduring scars of forced migration. The title, referring to the millions of women "recovered" during the Partition, carries a bitter irony, visible throughout the book. Rao delves into themes rarely discussed, including the impact of migration on women, homosexuality, marital rape, and the lingering wounds of violence. These stories are unsettling, raw, and necessary. As the author reclaims their dignity, the characters take on a powerful prose, gripping their identity even more securely. They have been broken within and in so many places that it’s easier to see the shards of hope filling their cracks, but oh so powerful.
I loved this book, a collection of stories that were lyrical in their melancholy & i hope you do too.
Disclaimer - rape, marital rape, violence, abuse, infidelity..
stephand2449's review against another edition
2.0
2 Stars
I barely finished this one. And, if it weren’t for the prize-winning story being the second to last in the collection, I don’t know that I would have. “Kavitha and Mustafa” and the “The Curfew” was the only story set I really enjoyed. The rest of the collection didn’t appeal to me. The sexual references often came out of no where, felt out of place in the stories, and were gratuitous in telling the narrative.
I barely finished this one. And, if it weren’t for the prize-winning story being the second to last in the collection, I don’t know that I would have. “Kavitha and Mustafa” and the “The Curfew” was the only story set I really enjoyed. The rest of the collection didn’t appeal to me. The sexual references often came out of no where, felt out of place in the stories, and were gratuitous in telling the narrative.
laurynturk's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Wow. There are no words to describe how powerful this collection is and just how important its stories are.
I was laughing and crying and frightened right alongside these characters. Their voices finding a special place in my heart. It will be a long time before I forget their tales. This is a novel everyone should be reading. If you haven’t yet picked it up, you should.
Shobha Rao writes beautifully. The prose of the stories so eloquently done that it is nearly impossible to tear your eyes from the page.
I was laughing and crying and frightened right alongside these characters. Their voices finding a special place in my heart. It will be a long time before I forget their tales. This is a novel everyone should be reading. If you haven’t yet picked it up, you should.
Shobha Rao writes beautifully. The prose of the stories so eloquently done that it is nearly impossible to tear your eyes from the page.
_askthebookbug's review
5.0
An Unrestored Woman - #bookrecommendation
•
"My wife comes into the room, shutting out the sun as she closes the door, and lays the wad of bills on the table in front of me. I can't look at her. I want to feel shame but I only feel a thin pleasure, like a fine layer of skin, puckered and white and soulless, floating on cooling milk." - Shobha Rao.
•
Set during the time of partition, this book of twelve short stories strikes a chord that seems deeply personal. As the title suggests, the protagonists are mostly women. Women of all kinds and ages. Apart from being a very intense read, it stirs up feelings that we often tend to forget about. There's helplessness, strength, courage, despair and many other emotions that did take a toll on me. The stories are not too difficult to comprehend but there's an underlying sense of pain that follows every word. It is often said and known that it was women who were much more adversely affected during the partition for they were abducted, raped and even killed. This book gives us a glimpse of what they might have gone through.
•
There were few chapters that made me cringe like women being trapped in loveless marriages. Two women who meet at a refugee camp bond over few days and build a relationship which is beyond love. They are separated and the aftereffects of it kills one as the other woman goes on to become a rich woman. The Merchant's Mistress and An Unrestored Woman, the first two chapters set the pace for rest of the book. The most beautiful thing about the book is how they're interlinked, be it the characters or the stories. It's narrated stunningly and is extremely vivid. Women who sell their bodies to support their husbands, women who are raped for days and how Muslims and Hindus slaughtered each other like animals. It's a thought-provoking read.
•
I would definitely recommend this to those who enjoy a powerful book. Something that'd make your blood run cold as you take in the lives of people who were born during that period.
•
Rating - 5/5.
•
"My wife comes into the room, shutting out the sun as she closes the door, and lays the wad of bills on the table in front of me. I can't look at her. I want to feel shame but I only feel a thin pleasure, like a fine layer of skin, puckered and white and soulless, floating on cooling milk." - Shobha Rao.
•
Set during the time of partition, this book of twelve short stories strikes a chord that seems deeply personal. As the title suggests, the protagonists are mostly women. Women of all kinds and ages. Apart from being a very intense read, it stirs up feelings that we often tend to forget about. There's helplessness, strength, courage, despair and many other emotions that did take a toll on me. The stories are not too difficult to comprehend but there's an underlying sense of pain that follows every word. It is often said and known that it was women who were much more adversely affected during the partition for they were abducted, raped and even killed. This book gives us a glimpse of what they might have gone through.
•
There were few chapters that made me cringe like women being trapped in loveless marriages. Two women who meet at a refugee camp bond over few days and build a relationship which is beyond love. They are separated and the aftereffects of it kills one as the other woman goes on to become a rich woman. The Merchant's Mistress and An Unrestored Woman, the first two chapters set the pace for rest of the book. The most beautiful thing about the book is how they're interlinked, be it the characters or the stories. It's narrated stunningly and is extremely vivid. Women who sell their bodies to support their husbands, women who are raped for days and how Muslims and Hindus slaughtered each other like animals. It's a thought-provoking read.
•
I would definitely recommend this to those who enjoy a powerful book. Something that'd make your blood run cold as you take in the lives of people who were born during that period.
•
Rating - 5/5.
readingwithhippos's review
5.0
Usually I'm all in favor of not reading too much about books before starting them. In this case, though, I wish I'd noted ahead of time that these are paired short stories. Each story overlaps just enough with its partner to cast a skewed light, ever so slightly warping and twisting what you thought you knew about the characters or their situation.
Sadly, I was slow to catch on to this pattern. Having never encountered a paired short story collection, I assumed all the stories in the book were linked, and thus wasted a fair amount of energy looking for repeating characters throughout the book. I should have recognized Rao had adopted a straightforward, rigid structure for the collection, because the stories themselves are so well-organized and perfectly contained. That's probably not a sexy way to describe a short story, but it appeals immensely to my concrete-sequential brain. Rao also wisely limits herself thematically by focusing the entire collection on one historical event: Partition—when, in 1947, India and Pakistan were divided by a line on a map into two distinct countries.
I couldn't help but compare Rao's collection with another I read recently, [b:What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours|25810500|What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours|Helen Oyeyemi|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1447463920s/25810500.jpg|45666508] by Helen Oyeyemi. If Oyeyemi's stories are like overgrown gardens that require a reader to bushwhack her way out (beautiful but oh-so-thorny!), Rao's stories are like perfectly smooth glass paperweights, plenty hefty but complete in themselves. I loved both collections, but upon reflection, they really could not be more different.
This is already one of my favorite books of the year: hard but redemptive in theme, spare and precise in style. Rao has a mysterious way of making her characters immediately knowable—a few lines in and you're right with her, waiting with wide eyes to see what will happen to them. And I know people say this all the time, but I can't believe this is a debut.
With regards to Flatiron Books and Goodreads for the review copy, which I was lucky enough to win in a recent giveaway. On sale now!
More book recommendations by me at www.readingwithhippos.com
Sadly, I was slow to catch on to this pattern. Having never encountered a paired short story collection, I assumed all the stories in the book were linked, and thus wasted a fair amount of energy looking for repeating characters throughout the book. I should have recognized Rao had adopted a straightforward, rigid structure for the collection, because the stories themselves are so well-organized and perfectly contained. That's probably not a sexy way to describe a short story, but it appeals immensely to my concrete-sequential brain. Rao also wisely limits herself thematically by focusing the entire collection on one historical event: Partition—when, in 1947, India and Pakistan were divided by a line on a map into two distinct countries.
I couldn't help but compare Rao's collection with another I read recently, [b:What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours|25810500|What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours|Helen Oyeyemi|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1447463920s/25810500.jpg|45666508] by Helen Oyeyemi. If Oyeyemi's stories are like overgrown gardens that require a reader to bushwhack her way out (beautiful but oh-so-thorny!), Rao's stories are like perfectly smooth glass paperweights, plenty hefty but complete in themselves. I loved both collections, but upon reflection, they really could not be more different.
This is already one of my favorite books of the year: hard but redemptive in theme, spare and precise in style. Rao has a mysterious way of making her characters immediately knowable—a few lines in and you're right with her, waiting with wide eyes to see what will happen to them. And I know people say this all the time, but I can't believe this is a debut.
With regards to Flatiron Books and Goodreads for the review copy, which I was lucky enough to win in a recent giveaway. On sale now!
More book recommendations by me at www.readingwithhippos.com
alisarae's review
5.0
Yes, girl!
This author, also author of Girls Burn Brighter which I have to read now, presents a powerhouse of awesome stories about Partition-era women on the Indian subcontinent. I don’t know if I have ever read such a cohesive collection of short stories that pack punch after consistent punch the entire book.
Here is what I mean by cohesion: each story can be read as a standalone and in any order. However, if you read them in order, there is always a character from the previous story that appears in the story after. So a thread weaves everything together.
Also, the stories are all about determined women carving and cobbling and conniving their way to a better life. Like, not necessarily a good life, but a better one. I am totally here for the revenge stories, the girl biding her time until the perfect moment arrives, the girl manipulating things into being the perfect moment, the girl doing far more than everyone including the reader gives her credit for. So here for that.
The other thing that stood out to me was a technical one. I would read what I thought was a perfect line to end the story on, and then the author gave us one more paragraph that was the actual perfect ending. Nearly every time. This is the one-two punch, folks.
This author, also author of Girls Burn Brighter which I have to read now, presents a powerhouse of awesome stories about Partition-era women on the Indian subcontinent. I don’t know if I have ever read such a cohesive collection of short stories that pack punch after consistent punch the entire book.
Here is what I mean by cohesion: each story can be read as a standalone and in any order. However, if you read them in order, there is always a character from the previous story that appears in the story after. So a thread weaves everything together.
Also, the stories are all about determined women carving and cobbling and conniving their way to a better life. Like, not necessarily a good life, but a better one. I am totally here for the revenge stories, the girl biding her time until the perfect moment arrives, the girl manipulating things into being the perfect moment, the girl doing far more than everyone including the reader gives her credit for. So here for that.
The other thing that stood out to me was a technical one. I would read what I thought was a perfect line to end the story on, and then the author gave us one more paragraph that was the actual perfect ending. Nearly every time. This is the one-two punch, folks.
rocio_voncina's review against another edition
4.0
Titulo: Una mujer desposeida
Autor: Shobha Rao
Año publicado: 2016
Motivo de lectura: #MarzoAsiatico
Lectura / Relectura: Lectura
Fisico / Electronico: Electronico
Mi edicion: -
Idioma: Español
Puntuacion: 4/5
Es una antologia realmente muy interesante, que abarca varios temas de la cultura de la India. Como en toda antologia, el nivel de las historias varia, pero sin dudas recomiendo su lectura.
Una mujer desposeida: una historia muy triste pero para nada exagerada y que aborda la realidad del destino de las mujeres viudas en la India. La construccion de los persoonajes y la manera que interactuan es realmente excelente, todo aporta mucho realismo. 5/5.
La amante del mercader: una historia de supervivencia. La protagonista haciendo lo que sea para intentar tener una vida (ni siquiera hablo de una vida de lujos), literalmente hablo de permanecer viva. Adoro a Reenu. 5/5.
La policia imperial: esta clase de historias siempre me rompen el corazon. Cuando la sociedad es tan de mente cerrada y eso lleva a algunas personas a tener que ocultar su verdadero ser como mecanismo de defensa. 5/5.
Andante: como una situacion traumatizante hace mella en la adultez, y como resultado se presenta la disfuncionalidad. 5/5
Con los ojos vendados: que dolor saber que esto no es ficcion, esto es algo que ocurre en la India (y en otros paises tambien). El desenlace de esta historia es absolutamente brillante. 5/5.
La cinta perdida: sin lugar a dudas, la historia mas triste en lo que va de esta antologia. La senti incompleta a la historia, y el final creo que le falto contundencia. 3/5.
Lo contrario de la carnalidad: no se bien como calificar la historia. El protagonista es una basura, pero le ocurrio algo que quizas si no hubiera ocurrido el no seria una basura (?), es muy dificil de calificar. 3/5.
Un rio imponente: comienzo a creer que la antologia esta decayendo. No es que la historia sea mala, pero senti el final abrupto y no resuelto. 3/5.
El camino a Mirpur Khas: el retrato de lo que seria casarse con un inutil. Un hombre absolutamente egoista que habla de su dolor, cuando en realidad es su esposa la que se sacrifica. 2/5.
La memsahib: la obsesion llevada a un nivel irreversible. El protagonista es un ser absolutamente desagradable. 3/5.
Kavitha y Mustafa: sobre la soledad en compañia y la opcion de no conformarse. 4/5.
Toque de queda: la intension de la historia no queda muy clara, quizas la autora juegue con la confusion de afrontar el dolor y vivir un duelo, pero en mi opinion falto un poquito para redondear la idea. 3/5.
Autor: Shobha Rao
Año publicado: 2016
Motivo de lectura: #MarzoAsiatico
Lectura / Relectura: Lectura
Fisico / Electronico: Electronico
Mi edicion: -
Idioma: Español
Puntuacion: 4/5
Todo cuanto necesitas esta dentro de ti. Y ni el hambre, ni la fatiga, ni la falta de dinero o de medios, o ni siquiera el fracaso, pueden disuadir a quienes tienen un proposito de verdad.
Es una antologia realmente muy interesante, que abarca varios temas de la cultura de la India. Como en toda antologia, el nivel de las historias varia, pero sin dudas recomiendo su lectura.
Una mujer desposeida: una historia muy triste pero para nada exagerada y que aborda la realidad del destino de las mujeres viudas en la India. La construccion de los persoonajes y la manera que interactuan es realmente excelente, todo aporta mucho realismo. 5/5.
La amante del mercader: una historia de supervivencia. La protagonista haciendo lo que sea para intentar tener una vida (ni siquiera hablo de una vida de lujos), literalmente hablo de permanecer viva. Adoro a Reenu. 5/5.
La policia imperial: esta clase de historias siempre me rompen el corazon. Cuando la sociedad es tan de mente cerrada y eso lleva a algunas personas a tener que ocultar su verdadero ser como mecanismo de defensa. 5/5.
Andante: como una situacion traumatizante hace mella en la adultez, y como resultado se presenta la disfuncionalidad. 5/5
Con los ojos vendados: que dolor saber que esto no es ficcion, esto es algo que ocurre en la India (y en otros paises tambien). El desenlace de esta historia es absolutamente brillante. 5/5.
La cinta perdida: sin lugar a dudas, la historia mas triste en lo que va de esta antologia. La senti incompleta a la historia, y el final creo que le falto contundencia. 3/5.
Lo contrario de la carnalidad: no se bien como calificar la historia. El protagonista es una basura, pero le ocurrio algo que quizas si no hubiera ocurrido el no seria una basura (?), es muy dificil de calificar. 3/5.
Un rio imponente: comienzo a creer que la antologia esta decayendo. No es que la historia sea mala, pero senti el final abrupto y no resuelto. 3/5.
El camino a Mirpur Khas: el retrato de lo que seria casarse con un inutil. Un hombre absolutamente egoista que habla de su dolor, cuando en realidad es su esposa la que se sacrifica. 2/5.
La memsahib: la obsesion llevada a un nivel irreversible. El protagonista es un ser absolutamente desagradable. 3/5.
Kavitha y Mustafa: sobre la soledad en compañia y la opcion de no conformarse. 4/5.
Toque de queda: la intension de la historia no queda muy clara, quizas la autora juegue con la confusion de afrontar el dolor y vivir un duelo, pero en mi opinion falto un poquito para redondear la idea. 3/5.