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A review by readmeanything_
Difficult Daughters by Manju Kapur
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
Not sure what we mean by a ‘diverse’ cast here- it’s set in India & written by & about pre/post partition Indians. So, diverse for a white/western audience, but not by Indian standards as it’s largely upper caste Hindus.
Is this a book about Partition or is it’s a book where Partition is backdrop? I can’t quite make up my mind. So much of the book is metaphor: splitting of families, houses, sisters-in-law quarrelling, loss & a cleave in families…
And yet, the sections on Partition are dreadfully written, disconnected from the broader narrative.
Is this a book about the every day lives of women- their trauma, nostalgia, pain- in Partition times? Maybe. I like that it largely steps away from the grand narratives of Partition- so much to reflect on here, but manages to capture some of same struggles of silencing, loss of home, and disorder.
The quest for Independence: Virumati’s and India’s- the troubling question (perhaps unintentionally from the author) is if it was worth it
Is this a book about Partition or is it’s a book where Partition is backdrop? I can’t quite make up my mind. So much of the book is metaphor: splitting of families, houses, sisters-in-law quarrelling, loss & a cleave in families…
And yet, the sections on Partition are dreadfully written, disconnected from the broader narrative.
Is this a book about the every day lives of women- their trauma, nostalgia, pain- in Partition times? Maybe. I like that it largely steps away from the grand narratives of Partition- so much to reflect on here, but manages to capture some of same struggles of silencing, loss of home, and disorder.
The quest for Independence: Virumati’s and India’s- the troubling question (perhaps unintentionally from the author) is if it was worth it