October 17, 2022
In Shroff’s acerbic debut, a woman helps other women escape their abusive marriages in their small village in India, often through murder. Geeta’s unearned reputation for having killed her physically abusive husband, Ramesh (he’s not dead, he just ran off), prompts women to approach her for help. It’s a fortuitous development for Geeta, who’s become socially isolated after a fight with her lifelong friend Saloni, who’s part of the microloan group that funds Geeta’s jewelry business. As well, Geeta admires the legendary Bandit Queen, who exacted revenge on those who’d wronged her, and agrees to help a local named Farah kill her husband (Farah’s first attempt backfired because she mistook hair growth pills for sleeping pills). Geeta also connects with widower Karem, a bootlegger, though not before costing him his livelihood by putting a stop to Karem’s biggest buyer, Bada-Bhai (Bada-Bhai was cutting the booze with methanol and testing it on dogs, and Geeta frees the dogs). After Geeta adopts Bada-Bhai’s sickest dog, whom she names Bandit, she begins allowing others into her life, including Saloni, which helps after Ramesh resurfaces. Shroff deals sharply with misogyny and abuse, describing the misery inflicted as well as its consequences in unflinching detail, and is equally unsparing in her depictions of mean-girl culture in the village. Readers are in for a razor-stuffed treat.
June 10, 2024
Veteran narrator Soneela Nankani takes Shroff's rave-worthy debut to the next level. A group microloan affords Geeta, Saloni, Farah, and twins Preity and Priya some independence, but the men in (and out of) their lives still define them, according to village custom. Even among the women, Geeta's husband Ramesh's questionable disappearance six years prior marks her as either pitiable or perhaps even dangerous. When Farah approaches Geeta for help dispatching her own abusive husband, Geeta can't bring herself to admit that Ramesh merely abandoned her. Accordingly, her reputation becomes fact, and Geeta is caught in an escalating series of violent "favors" to her loan group. Calling attention to the very real issues of misogyny, caste oppression, and bias against non-Hindu people in rural India, Shroff's first novel educates through morbid humor and vivid characters. The "Bandit Queen" Phoolan Devi is Geeta's role model for bravery (and vengeance), and a concluding author's note fills in the history behind this real-life legend for interested listeners. VERDICT From beginning to end, Nankani inhabits characters of all genders, castes, and faiths and applies impeccable comic timing for a funny, dramatic experience with broad appeal. Highly recommended for all public libraries.--Lauren Kage
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