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A review by swaggynikki
The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
informative
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Holy shit!! This is really good!! This story covers both gendered oppression and caste-based oppression in rural India in a way that was (to my not-Indian perception) really nuanced and well-done. In particular I was worried that the book would shy away from talking about caste oppression in depth, but it didn't starting in about the middle which was very cool. It talked about gendered violence in the global South in a way that didn't feel racist or overly CIA-approved, which is already a (wayyy too) high bar.
I'm so, so impressed with its cast of female characters and how complex and interesting they were. The book was feminist without feeling simplistic or overly girlbossy, and the female characters had a really admirable amount of nuance in their traits and actions and motivations. Most of them were not one-note nice or cool or perfect, but none of them felt treated unfairly by the narrative. In particular I'm really obsessed with Farah and the absolute range she was allowed to show. When I think back, I can recall and trace back each woman's individual passions and goals. No one felt like an accessory to anyone else, and I like how prickly everyone is until the end.
I really liked the realism of the book, historically and in the modern day. Because it covers gendered violence in a pretty frank way though, the book was incredibly fucking dark--I wasn't expecting it, so check trigger warnings and take breaks and such. The parts that were most disturbing to me were probably the off-the-cuff accounts of Phoolan Devi's life, which speaks to its ability to not flinch at history or reality because these woman couldn't either. The ways the characters talked about NGOs and government initiatives, it all felt like it was coming from someone who knew they were talking about. If I had to sum it up, the target audience of the book didn't feel like it was white people, which is so so SO refreshing. It wasn't trying to scare white people about how bad women have it in "those parts of the world", it didn't feel like it was begging for white charity because of how bad their standard of living is, it didn't feel like it was othering Indians with how "barbaric" or "outdated" the caste system is. It just treated people outside of the imperial core as people, who like their lives and love each other and are entirely capable of improving their world without Western help. I basically never see that, especially in fiction, and I'm really grateful that it's present here.
I'm going to be thinking about this book a lot. It's an incredibly impressive success of international feminism, and I'll be following Parini Shroff's future career with great interest.
I'm so, so impressed with its cast of female characters and how complex and interesting they were. The book was feminist without feeling simplistic or overly girlbossy, and the female characters had a really admirable amount of nuance in their traits and actions and motivations. Most of them were not one-note nice or cool or perfect, but none of them felt treated unfairly by the narrative. In particular I'm really obsessed with Farah and the absolute range she was allowed to show. When I think back, I can recall and trace back each woman's individual passions and goals. No one felt like an accessory to anyone else, and I like how prickly everyone is until the end.
I really liked the realism of the book, historically and in the modern day. Because it covers gendered violence in a pretty frank way though, the book was incredibly fucking dark--I wasn't expecting it, so check trigger warnings and take breaks and such. The parts that were most disturbing to me were probably the off-the-cuff accounts of Phoolan Devi's life, which speaks to its ability to not flinch at history or reality because these woman couldn't either. The ways the characters talked about NGOs and government initiatives, it all felt like it was coming from someone who knew they were talking about. If I had to sum it up, the target audience of the book didn't feel like it was white people, which is so so SO refreshing. It wasn't trying to scare white people about how bad women have it in "those parts of the world", it didn't feel like it was begging for white charity because of how bad their standard of living is, it didn't feel like it was othering Indians with how "barbaric" or "outdated" the caste system is. It just treated people outside of the imperial core as people, who like their lives and love each other and are entirely capable of improving their world without Western help. I basically never see that, especially in fiction, and I'm really grateful that it's present here.
I'm going to be thinking about this book a lot. It's an incredibly impressive success of international feminism, and I'll be following Parini Shroff's future career with great interest.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Sexual violence