A review by claire_fuller_writer
Leila by Prayaag Akbar

3.0

Some arresting descriptions of deprivation and terrible living conditions, and although I really wanted to keep reading to see what happened, the whole story didn't hang together well enough for me. I never fully understood who was controlling people apart from 'The Council' or why Shalini and her family was picked on (was it Riz or not?). Why didn't Shalini write to her mother if she was able to write to her friend and her nanny? There was too many unanswered plot points, although perhaps because of the life Shalini was forced to live, she didn't have the answers, so we didn't either. Maybe I wanted to know more about those 16 years when her daughter was gone - more about the daily grind. I know I'm not being very clear, but I was generally dissatisfied without really being able to say why.