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A review by meg5345
Leila by Prayaag Akbar
4.0
Leila is set in a near-future where we see India in a totalitarian society, walls have come up dividing communities as there is a regime for purity. It isn’t acceptable for people to socialize with people from other communities anymore. There is a huge divide between people from high class living in walled communities and people from the slums who are struggling for clean water and pure air. It seems a very bleak but not so hypothetical scenario.
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The story revolves around Shalini who was, as a child, a privileged part of this society never realizing the struggles of the poor until she was cast out of it, when her daughter, Leila, was taken away from her because she was the child of a mixed-race marriage between a Hindu and a Muslim. We follow Shalini in this book, where we see the struggles she faces to find out what happened to Leila and get her back.
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In so many ways Shalini's journey feels like so much more than finding her daughter, it's the longing for freedom and discovering oneself in this extremist Indian society. There are many things that hit too close to home and one needn't look very far to see how this kind of society can come about, which is really something that this book makes you think about.
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The writing is amazing, it sucked me in from the start and kept me engaged throughout.
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There's also a TV show out on Netflix based on this book, which seems interesting although I am always skeptical about adaptations.
.
The story revolves around Shalini who was, as a child, a privileged part of this society never realizing the struggles of the poor until she was cast out of it, when her daughter, Leila, was taken away from her because she was the child of a mixed-race marriage between a Hindu and a Muslim. We follow Shalini in this book, where we see the struggles she faces to find out what happened to Leila and get her back.
.
In so many ways Shalini's journey feels like so much more than finding her daughter, it's the longing for freedom and discovering oneself in this extremist Indian society. There are many things that hit too close to home and one needn't look very far to see how this kind of society can come about, which is really something that this book makes you think about.
.
The writing is amazing, it sucked me in from the start and kept me engaged throughout.
.
There's also a TV show out on Netflix based on this book, which seems interesting although I am always skeptical about adaptations.