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A review by thechemicaldetective
I Kick and I Fly by Ruchira Gupta
5.0
I was captivated by this book.
It’s very hard to write about the grim realities of the sex trade for a young-adult audience. Too little detail and you risk glossing over the horror, too much and you could be accused of adding to prurient confusion: exploitation by inadvertent titillation.
Ruchira Gupta knows what she is talking about and steers a confident path through the minefield. She tells the story through the eyes of Heera a fourteen year old girl from a poor family who are struggling to survive in the red-light district of a town in the state of Bihar, India.
Heera narrates in a mater-of-fact voice. She and understands much of what is going on. She sees how her cousin Mira –prostituted from a shack at the back of the family home by Heera’s uncle next door - is treated by clients and she desperately wants to avoid the same fate.
There was much that was new and shocking for me. The ‘dance company’ and ‘orchestra’ that come to town for the annual Mela and buy the young girls. The absurd Bisi Bele ceremony where a priest publicly marries a girl to a tree before she is sold into prostitution, to get around the prohibition on sexual activity for unmarried women. The complicity of the police in the sex trade is depressingly familiar, but the portrayal of the family complicity was believable, tragic and appalling.
Heena’s life is turned around when she is accepted to join a Kung-Fu class run by Rini Di at a hostel for vulnerable girls. Her rising self-esteem sets her off on a different path.
What I particularly loved about the ending was the way the teenage rebellion was framed within a very close family; Heera’s triumph is not only that she avoids being trafficked, but the way she brings her whole community round so they can contemplate an alternative way to survive and prosper. And at the heart of this change is respect for girls and women.
This is a triumphant, feel good story but it never feels glib or superficial.
I heartily recommend this book as it covers an important topic while being a thoroughly good and enjoyable read. It would also make a fantastic movie.
It’s very hard to write about the grim realities of the sex trade for a young-adult audience. Too little detail and you risk glossing over the horror, too much and you could be accused of adding to prurient confusion: exploitation by inadvertent titillation.
Ruchira Gupta knows what she is talking about and steers a confident path through the minefield. She tells the story through the eyes of Heera a fourteen year old girl from a poor family who are struggling to survive in the red-light district of a town in the state of Bihar, India.
Heera narrates in a mater-of-fact voice. She and understands much of what is going on. She sees how her cousin Mira –prostituted from a shack at the back of the family home by Heera’s uncle next door - is treated by clients and she desperately wants to avoid the same fate.
There was much that was new and shocking for me. The ‘dance company’ and ‘orchestra’ that come to town for the annual Mela and buy the young girls. The absurd Bisi Bele ceremony where a priest publicly marries a girl to a tree before she is sold into prostitution, to get around the prohibition on sexual activity for unmarried women. The complicity of the police in the sex trade is depressingly familiar, but the portrayal of the family complicity was believable, tragic and appalling.
Heena’s life is turned around when she is accepted to join a Kung-Fu class run by Rini Di at a hostel for vulnerable girls. Her rising self-esteem sets her off on a different path.
What I particularly loved about the ending was the way the teenage rebellion was framed within a very close family; Heera’s triumph is not only that she avoids being trafficked, but the way she brings her whole community round so they can contemplate an alternative way to survive and prosper. And at the heart of this change is respect for girls and women.
This is a triumphant, feel good story but it never feels glib or superficial.
I heartily recommend this book as it covers an important topic while being a thoroughly good and enjoyable read. It would also make a fantastic movie.