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readbyrodkelly 's review for:
The Parcel
by Anosh Irani
On the surface this story is very straightforward: Madhu, a trans-woman (called a "hijra" in the red-light district of Kamathipura, located in Bombay) who once worked as a prostitute but has now aged and been reduced to begging for money, is given a task by a brothel owner to prepare a "parcel" for initiation into sex work.
Okay, sounds bleak and horrendous...well, it is. And it is a painful journey to locate the deeper resonance of the novel: Madhu- abandoned, marginalized, and left empty by everyone around her, is trying to find a purpose in a life where everything seems to lead to failure and heartache.
There are questions about the way women are at the mercy of a patriarchal society; the human quest to be accepted by our parents, in this case from a trans perspective; the circular nature of pain begetting pain; the transcending power of love...
Anosh Irani's novel uses very frank and deliberate language, with endless metaphors to detail the psychological and literal pain experienced by a marginalized group of humans living in poverty across fourteen lanes in Bombay's red-light district.
Okay, sounds bleak and horrendous...well, it is. And it is a painful journey to locate the deeper resonance of the novel: Madhu- abandoned, marginalized, and left empty by everyone around her, is trying to find a purpose in a life where everything seems to lead to failure and heartache.
There are questions about the way women are at the mercy of a patriarchal society; the human quest to be accepted by our parents, in this case from a trans perspective; the circular nature of pain begetting pain; the transcending power of love...
Anosh Irani's novel uses very frank and deliberate language, with endless metaphors to detail the psychological and literal pain experienced by a marginalized group of humans living in poverty across fourteen lanes in Bombay's red-light district.