Sunday, November 9, 2008

Dowry Bride by Shobhan Bantwal

I actually (gasp) bought this book. I saw it at Indigo last summer and couldn't get it out of my head. I also couldn't find it at my library. Jonathan was ordering a book on Amazon and wanted to get the shipping deal so we bought me a couple.
This is Shobhan Bantwal's first novel and a very interesting topic. It looks at the notion of bride burnings in India...one of the dark 'secrets'. In a male oriented society, a woman's place can be to bring in a handsome dowry and start producing babies (male preferrably).
The premise is this, Megha (trapped in a miserable young marriage with an overbearing mother-in-law) overhears her MIL and her husband plotting her death one night. She flees into the safety of her husband's cousin Kiran, who offers her shelter and security.
This book is rich in detail of life in India, which I loved. I have a heart for the people of India and would love to travel there one day. I did find that there were some jumps and bumps in the writing from time to time, but could overlook those to enjoy the story.

No comments: