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Simran Singh #1
Witness the Night
In a small town in the heart of India, a young girl is found tied to a bed inside a townhouse where 13 people lie dead. The girl is alive, but she has been beaten and abused. She is held in the local prison, awaiting interrogation for the murders she is believed by the local people to have committed.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
55 people are currently reading
1377 people want to read
About the author
Kishwar Desai
11 books43 followersKishwar Desai (née Rosha) (born 1 December 1956) is an Indian author and columnist. Her latest novel The Sea of Innocence has just been published in India and will shortly be published in UK and Australia. Her first novel, Witness the Night won the Costa Book Award in 2010 for Best First Novel and has been translated into over 25 languages. It was also shortlisted for the Author's Club First Novel Award and longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize. Her critically acclaimed novel, Origins of Love was published in June 2012. Desai also has a biography Darlingji: The True Love Story of Nargis and Sunil Dutt to her credit.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kishwar...
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kishwar...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 206 reviews
October 6, 2012
In two minds about this one; it didn't seem to know what it wanted to be.
Simran Singh is a social worker asked to look into a mass murder of a family; a 14 year old girl is suspected, but is she being set up. Simran has to work through prejudice and tradition to find a solution. The problem is that the book doesn't really know what it is. Desai clearly has strong views about the subject she is addressing and she is passionate about it. The role of women in a certain part of Indian society is cantral; however the book is also a detective story and Simran is trying to solve a puzzle. The problem is that the book doesn't make its mind up whether it is a crime novel or a social critique.
There is a devastating point to make about the place of women in Indian society and the demand for sons rather than daughters. Simran is somewhat slow at times but she is likeable; especially because she has loveable flaws and mostly finds the truth by pure accident. This was Desai's first novel and I think she intends to revive Simran in the next novel. I think I will suspend judgement until the next novekl; but this is worth a try; there are some good passages and strong characters. I would like to see some other opinions on this one.
Simran Singh is a social worker asked to look into a mass murder of a family; a 14 year old girl is suspected, but is she being set up. Simran has to work through prejudice and tradition to find a solution. The problem is that the book doesn't really know what it is. Desai clearly has strong views about the subject she is addressing and she is passionate about it. The role of women in a certain part of Indian society is cantral; however the book is also a detective story and Simran is trying to solve a puzzle. The problem is that the book doesn't make its mind up whether it is a crime novel or a social critique.
There is a devastating point to make about the place of women in Indian society and the demand for sons rather than daughters. Simran is somewhat slow at times but she is likeable; especially because she has loveable flaws and mostly finds the truth by pure accident. This was Desai's first novel and I think she intends to revive Simran in the next novel. I think I will suspend judgement until the next novekl; but this is worth a try; there are some good passages and strong characters. I would like to see some other opinions on this one.
June 28, 2012
Witness the Night is set in a small town in Punjab, and tells the story of a social worker amateur detective who is trying to solve the mystery of whether why a 14 year old girl murdered her family.
I'm conflicted with this review. The positive side of my brain tells me that it tells themes that need to be told, and tells them in a way that made it very easy to continue reading. Not only did I finish the book in four days, but I also felt compelled to do some research about the systemic abortion and infanticide of female children in an India that cherishes its sons. Did you know that there are only 3 girls for every 4 boys in Punjab - or put another way, one in every four girls is killed before or soon after birth? Even more scary... the gender gap is increasing. Witness the Night speaks of the impacts that this has on girls forced by their families to 'lose' their children, and the poor treatment dished out to many of those girls who survive the slaughter.
The critical side of my brain tells me that the book had a lot of faults.
I read an interview in which Kishwar Desai says that she wrote this, her first novel, in one month. It is very obvious that she is passionate about its messages - this comes through very clearly - but, one has to stop and think how much better it could have been if more time had been spent on it.
In my eyes, the chief problem with Witness the Night is that it is riddled with continual exposition. Almost every chapter has something important to say about the plight of women, and the author's attempts to meld them into the plot are often clumsy. They were generally just preachy monologues by the narrator. I do care about the issues more after reading this book which I suppose was Desai's aim, but I would have preferred to discover the issues and decided what to think about them for myself rather than have them rammed down my throat.
There were other problems. The opening chapter was shocking (which is a good thing!) and held the promise of an intense mystery and drama, but the intensity simply wasn't maintained. Motivations often seemed weak, and there were very few moments that pulled me out of my seat. Yes, it was enough to keep me wanting to read more, but it could have been so much better.
5 stars for the message, 4 stars for the opening chapter, 3 stars for being an easy read, 2 stars for being more mundane than it could have been, 1 star for preaching at me. I suppose that's a 3 point average...
I'm conflicted with this review. The positive side of my brain tells me that it tells themes that need to be told, and tells them in a way that made it very easy to continue reading. Not only did I finish the book in four days, but I also felt compelled to do some research about the systemic abortion and infanticide of female children in an India that cherishes its sons. Did you know that there are only 3 girls for every 4 boys in Punjab - or put another way, one in every four girls is killed before or soon after birth? Even more scary... the gender gap is increasing. Witness the Night speaks of the impacts that this has on girls forced by their families to 'lose' their children, and the poor treatment dished out to many of those girls who survive the slaughter.
The critical side of my brain tells me that the book had a lot of faults.
I read an interview in which Kishwar Desai says that she wrote this, her first novel, in one month. It is very obvious that she is passionate about its messages - this comes through very clearly - but, one has to stop and think how much better it could have been if more time had been spent on it.
In my eyes, the chief problem with Witness the Night is that it is riddled with continual exposition. Almost every chapter has something important to say about the plight of women, and the author's attempts to meld them into the plot are often clumsy. They were generally just preachy monologues by the narrator. I do care about the issues more after reading this book which I suppose was Desai's aim, but I would have preferred to discover the issues and decided what to think about them for myself rather than have them rammed down my throat.
There were other problems. The opening chapter was shocking (which is a good thing!) and held the promise of an intense mystery and drama, but the intensity simply wasn't maintained. Motivations often seemed weak, and there were very few moments that pulled me out of my seat. Yes, it was enough to keep me wanting to read more, but it could have been so much better.
5 stars for the message, 4 stars for the opening chapter, 3 stars for being an easy read, 2 stars for being more mundane than it could have been, 1 star for preaching at me. I suppose that's a 3 point average...
April 16, 2020
My GM at the bookstore handed me an advanced reader's copy that he got from the Penguin rep. I guess he figured I'd like it, as it did win the Costa First Novel Award and the author is South Asian. I also tend to like well-written literary detective novels. The idea behind this story, (child sexual abuse, infanticide, foeticide, and other forms of corruption in contemporary Indian culture) seemed like it would be heavy-handed. This would make for a great work of non-fiction if the real story behind this poorly written narrative were to come to light in a different genre. I think this would work fine for genre mystery reader's who may expect less in writing style than traditional literature, but that may not be the case either as there are a lot of great mystery writers who are great not only because of their stories but primarily because of the writing style. The protagonist is rather a pathetic stereotype of a hard-drinking hard-boiled detective but without the real tough guy exterior traits, as the character is a woman and a bit of a psychological head-case. I don't think that more novels based on this character would be a good idea, but then a first novel doesn't always come out great in style.
Perhaps I'm being too harsh, or perhaps I'm being generous giving it two stars. Read it and disagree with me, please, I would like more insight into what someone else thinks of this novel.
Should it have won the Costa First Novel Award? I would like to see the list of other titles in the competition to really judge that this one deserved the honors.
Truly, by the end of the novel, I was just glad I finished it and could wash my hands off of the matter. I was thoroughly disappointed by the writing style and the happy ending to a story of this sort. There was only one chapter that I thought had enough action to make the story move, otherwise, the writing was truly more telling than showing the reader what was happening. The whole novel took place in this character's head. Really, she just needs a good shrink even though she herself is a social worker.
However, I'm glad my GM gave it to me to read. Now if I could just get through the other 1000+ novels and 1000+ books of non-fiction at home.
Perhaps I'm being too harsh, or perhaps I'm being generous giving it two stars. Read it and disagree with me, please, I would like more insight into what someone else thinks of this novel.
Should it have won the Costa First Novel Award? I would like to see the list of other titles in the competition to really judge that this one deserved the honors.
Truly, by the end of the novel, I was just glad I finished it and could wash my hands off of the matter. I was thoroughly disappointed by the writing style and the happy ending to a story of this sort. There was only one chapter that I thought had enough action to make the story move, otherwise, the writing was truly more telling than showing the reader what was happening. The whole novel took place in this character's head. Really, she just needs a good shrink even though she herself is a social worker.
However, I'm glad my GM gave it to me to read. Now if I could just get through the other 1000+ novels and 1000+ books of non-fiction at home.
March 23, 2013
Gripping atmospheric mystery taking on almost gothicly horrific themes of infanticide, child abuse and corruption in India's Punjab. The detective, a 45-year old, ex convent school girl turned itinerant social worker with a taste for a glass of whisky and a handsome young man, is a truly sympathetic and engaging lead character. Not everyone's motivation fits together perfectly, and the treatment of social themes sometimes borders (understandably - the killing of girl babies can get one riled up) on the lecturing. But the suspense is excellent, the pacing never lags, and it's truly enjoyable to watch Simi (our heroine) at work. I have already order the second one in the series -- doesn't seem like it was released here, sadly.
March 3, 2019
3.5*
The topic was heartbreaking and the story was gripping. But I just felt like the writing and structure left a bit to be desired.
The topic was heartbreaking and the story was gripping. But I just felt like the writing and structure left a bit to be desired.
January 13, 2011
Set in small town Jullundur (Jalandhar) in Punjab, Witness the Night is the story of a 14 year old girl Durga caught in a nightmare and a 45-year-old social worker Simran who is working hard to find out the truth. When 13 people from a rich and prominent family are killed one night, 14-year-old Durga, the daughter of the family and the only survivor, is the main suspect.
When Simran, a fiercely independent and outspoken social worker arrives in Jullunder to speak with Durga and find out the truth from her, she realizes that the incident is not as straight forward as it seems. Durga looks like a scared child but she keeps mum about the incident. It is up-to Simran to find out the truth on her own. As she tries to uncover the truth, she finds that the relationship of Durga with her family has sinister undertones to it.
I cannot tell you how much I loved this book. It deals with a very important subject about female infanticide and the place of women in a conservative society. I could tell the author is passionate about the subject. But in no way does it get overbearing or boring. It’s also a page turning mystery where we are kept wondering till the end about how it happened. Although we know what happened by the first page itself, it’s still a mystery about why someone would wipe an entire family out.
The book is written from 2 viewpoints, Durga’s and Simran’s. While Durga’s writing is serious and dark, Simran’s is sarcastic and funny at times. She is a very interesting lady and I especially enjoyed her interactions with her mother. Overall this is a mystery that is different from many mysteries out there because not only is it page turning but it also deals with a very important subject with honesty and fearlessness.
My review doesn’t do the book justice. You have to read it to see how wonderful it is. Highly recommended. Witness the Night is the winner of 2010 Costa First Novel Award.
When Simran, a fiercely independent and outspoken social worker arrives in Jullunder to speak with Durga and find out the truth from her, she realizes that the incident is not as straight forward as it seems. Durga looks like a scared child but she keeps mum about the incident. It is up-to Simran to find out the truth on her own. As she tries to uncover the truth, she finds that the relationship of Durga with her family has sinister undertones to it.
I cannot tell you how much I loved this book. It deals with a very important subject about female infanticide and the place of women in a conservative society. I could tell the author is passionate about the subject. But in no way does it get overbearing or boring. It’s also a page turning mystery where we are kept wondering till the end about how it happened. Although we know what happened by the first page itself, it’s still a mystery about why someone would wipe an entire family out.
The book is written from 2 viewpoints, Durga’s and Simran’s. While Durga’s writing is serious and dark, Simran’s is sarcastic and funny at times. She is a very interesting lady and I especially enjoyed her interactions with her mother. Overall this is a mystery that is different from many mysteries out there because not only is it page turning but it also deals with a very important subject with honesty and fearlessness.
My review doesn’t do the book justice. You have to read it to see how wonderful it is. Highly recommended. Witness the Night is the winner of 2010 Costa First Novel Award.
December 9, 2020
I got a real feel for a town in the Punjab where this takes place, and for the horror of the preference for male children. The characters are interesting and well described. I could feel the frustration of the heroine as she works to get information and the freedom of a young woman accused of multiple murders of her family members. Suspicion falls on different people at different times, and motives are murky at best. I liked the use of the first person narrative for the beginning of each chapter, as we begin to realize who is speaking and what she is saying. It's not really a mystery in the classic sense, but I did want to keep reading to see how it would resolve.
August 1, 2015
So I found this gem at the Half Priced Book's Warehouse Sale for $1. I thought I would take a chance. So glad I did.
I think it is unwise marketing on the part of the publisher to call this a thriller. It is more or less a mystery. But it is not thrilling. At no point did I think the narrator was in any real danger. There is no real suspense. In fact what I loved most about this book is that it is imperfect people, doing their jobs, the best they can, with the cards they are dealt and the realizations that their choices and their loyalties have lead them to this imperfect place. There are also a fair number of people-- not doing their jobs and in fact they have built a career on not actually doing the job they have been hired to do.
I also loved the realness of the cultural history and the illumination of the realities and ambiguities that make up life.
The reality is sexism is alive in well all over the globe and in some cases-- it is deadly.
This is a great read and I already ordered a copy of her other two novels.
I think it is unwise marketing on the part of the publisher to call this a thriller. It is more or less a mystery. But it is not thrilling. At no point did I think the narrator was in any real danger. There is no real suspense. In fact what I loved most about this book is that it is imperfect people, doing their jobs, the best they can, with the cards they are dealt and the realizations that their choices and their loyalties have lead them to this imperfect place. There are also a fair number of people-- not doing their jobs and in fact they have built a career on not actually doing the job they have been hired to do.
I also loved the realness of the cultural history and the illumination of the realities and ambiguities that make up life.
The reality is sexism is alive in well all over the globe and in some cases-- it is deadly.
This is a great read and I already ordered a copy of her other two novels.
July 24, 2022
OMG this book has wreaked me 😭😭😭
I don't think I will be able to overcome this overwhelming sadness that I feel for the characters. All of them were just gems, especially Durga and Sharada. I just want to protect them both like they are my babies. The extend of abuse and torture they underwent is just heartbreaking to read. It took me about 10 days to complete this short book, because it was too emotionally for me.
I loved this book, not because if it's story but for its characters. Simran is my girl and I will forever support her. The verbal and emotional abuse she is given just because she is an unmarried woman is too much. But this is the sad reality if our state, it just turns a blind eye to the pain of women.
An absolute favourite that I will be re-reading, when I am emotional strong 🙏🙏🙏
Totally balled my eyes out😭😭😭
I don't think I will be able to overcome this overwhelming sadness that I feel for the characters. All of them were just gems, especially Durga and Sharada. I just want to protect them both like they are my babies. The extend of abuse and torture they underwent is just heartbreaking to read. It took me about 10 days to complete this short book, because it was too emotionally for me.
I loved this book, not because if it's story but for its characters. Simran is my girl and I will forever support her. The verbal and emotional abuse she is given just because she is an unmarried woman is too much. But this is the sad reality if our state, it just turns a blind eye to the pain of women.
An absolute favourite that I will be re-reading, when I am emotional strong 🙏🙏🙏
Totally balled my eyes out😭😭😭
October 18, 2018
3.5🌟
The only reason I'm giving this book 3.5 stars is for the subject the author chose to write about.
This is no way a thriller. Its a crime.fiction which could have been a lot better. Towards the end the story felt very much rushed and that just ruined it for me.
Also, I had solved the mystery long before.
But it has to be remembered that this is a debut novel. Hoping for a better story in the next books by the author.
The only reason I'm giving this book 3.5 stars is for the subject the author chose to write about.
This is no way a thriller. Its a crime.fiction which could have been a lot better. Towards the end the story felt very much rushed and that just ruined it for me.
Also, I had solved the mystery long before.
But it has to be remembered that this is a debut novel. Hoping for a better story in the next books by the author.
May 26, 2019
Desai’s novel is an intricate first one. A good job. The writing style is simple with few greatly written paragraphs. It is a gender crime fiction, if I can coin the term. It’s a adt read and death works in multiple layers as the theme. I enjoyed reading it but I cannot say if I love it. I am conflicted—just like our sleuth-Simran. SS doesn’t quite know what she wants out of her life as this case—I felt. Desai, like SS keeps a distance from her subject matter even though she gives an impression that she knows it well. And that is my main critique. I wished Desai would have plunged deeper and boldly. I wish the hosts would have tormented the writer as Durga or Sharda. The climax is too neat to be true. It deserved two more chapters on it. Durga is an interesting character but not well stretched. I couldn’t get a full grasp of her or maybe that’s what the writer wanted. But I will say one thing—we need more women crime writers. The book is intersectional, self deprecating in parts which is authentic. Also, I felt that Desai maintains a colonial/imperial gaze at times.
June 25, 2015
The book has a phenomenally binding start -
A 14 year old girl is found alive, tied and tortured, in a burned house, filled with butchered corpses of the rest of her family. Within no time, she turns out to be the prime suspect of the slaughter.
The novel ,albeit short, is much more than a (mass)murder mystery. Without giving away much, it deals with issues like female foeticide, parochial patriarchalism and the nexus between the police, the media, the social institutions and our 'uncivil' society. At places, the writing is brutal and chilling and certainly not unwarrantedly so. The central character is one of the strongest female protagonists I have ever come across and the author apparently, has brought her back in a few subsequent novels. The characters are fictitious but the events, and this is the sad part of our reality, the author acknowledges herself, are real.
For a first time author, this is definitely an extremely fine start.
The novel ,albeit short, is much more than a (mass)murder mystery. Without giving away much, it deals with issues like female foeticide, parochial patriarchalism and the nexus between the police, the media, the social institutions and our 'uncivil' society. At places, the writing is brutal and chilling and certainly not unwarrantedly so. The central character is one of the strongest female protagonists I have ever come across and the author apparently, has brought her back in a few subsequent novels. The characters are fictitious but the events, and this is the sad part of our reality, the author acknowledges herself, are real.
For a first time author, this is definitely an extremely fine start.
June 10, 2011
I really wanted to like this book more, the author is passionate about the subject matter and comes from a journalism/documentary background. And that's why I think it jarred with me as the issues about the treatment of female babies and children in India to precendence over building a real sense of the story and the characters. I had the mystery figured out before the main character and when the climax came, it seemed rushed, hurried and curiously unresolved. I wanted a bit more subtlety in the characters and the story - but for all of that - it was a good first novel and did take you on an emotional journey. She is currently writing a follow-up and I will check it out.
February 13, 2013
I loved the wry voice of 45-year-old social worker/detective Simran Singh. Her comic interactions with her mother, who is STILL trying to marry her off, contrast sharply the family history of Durga, the fourteen-year-old Simran is trying to help. Yet Durga's story, based on the reality of female foeticide in India, is extremely painful, too painful for this reader.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 11, 2015
****3.5
March 12, 2025
Well, I don't know what should I say..
The message was clear. Start was great.
But it disappointed me as in the end we don't know what actually happened at that night and how !
I was expecting a big twist in the end.. which never came.
The message was clear. Start was great.
But it disappointed me as in the end we don't know what actually happened at that night and how !
I was expecting a big twist in the end.. which never came.
May 24, 2022
Novel which talks about taboos like misogyny, patriarchy in the society but not much depth to the story but a bold read
October 18, 2022
The darkest detective novel I read omg, it was so hard. It's also the 1st detective novel written by a non-white writer that I have read, I'm happy
July 17, 2020
A real page turner of a mystery that takes place in modern day India.
April 15, 2019
2.5/5.
This a quick, readable text that straddles genres. In many ways the text felt like it belonged to the hard boiled genre of detective fiction. Within this genre, the text does many admirable things: forcing the focus on crimes of gender violence, and inverting the trope of the gun-clad male quasi vigilante PI with a drinking, smoking, gender subversive, female social worker.
But, for a text based on a horrifying series of events and violence that basically write themselves, the text had problems. The major punchlines and emotional heft fo the story are derived solely from the source material; even in a dry clinical narration the plot would be emotionally charged. Given this, the text needed to be better.
I have found texts that explore similar themes of gender violence and trauma to be particularly effective when they utilize surreal imagery, nonlinear time, disjointed internal monologues and memories from the perspective of survivors, and an unmooring of traditional guideposts for readers as a way of forcing the reader to become immersed in the maelstrom the violence of the plot creates. This text eschews most of these techniques in favor of a frame-novel style approach of an outsider gradually falling deeper and deeper into a isolated, mad, place. I don’t think this literary style is as effective for me, as it allows the reader to inhabit the role of naive outsider learning about the horror of the human condition, rather than forcing the reader to gaze at their own complicity in a society where violent predators abound and the narratives one learns from childhood are of violence wreaked on one’s own body for any perceived transgressions.
This a quick, readable text that straddles genres. In many ways the text felt like it belonged to the hard boiled genre of detective fiction. Within this genre, the text does many admirable things: forcing the focus on crimes of gender violence, and inverting the trope of the gun-clad male quasi vigilante PI with a drinking, smoking, gender subversive, female social worker.
But, for a text based on a horrifying series of events and violence that basically write themselves, the text had problems. The major punchlines and emotional heft fo the story are derived solely from the source material; even in a dry clinical narration the plot would be emotionally charged. Given this, the text needed to be better.
I have found texts that explore similar themes of gender violence and trauma to be particularly effective when they utilize surreal imagery, nonlinear time, disjointed internal monologues and memories from the perspective of survivors, and an unmooring of traditional guideposts for readers as a way of forcing the reader to become immersed in the maelstrom the violence of the plot creates. This text eschews most of these techniques in favor of a frame-novel style approach of an outsider gradually falling deeper and deeper into a isolated, mad, place. I don’t think this literary style is as effective for me, as it allows the reader to inhabit the role of naive outsider learning about the horror of the human condition, rather than forcing the reader to gaze at their own complicity in a society where violent predators abound and the narratives one learns from childhood are of violence wreaked on one’s own body for any perceived transgressions.
June 17, 2012
I really wanted to like this book. I met the author at Hay Festival and she is lovely , and passionate about the lot of women in India.The book starts out well setting the scene and getting you interested in the plot. It is written as a crime novel with a social message in there, female infanticide and women in India. By the middle I had guessed the plot largely and got a bit irritated by the naivety of the main character who is a supposed hard headed spinster but seems to flip at any man who speaks to her. I thought the issues were veiled in the story and actually both detracted from each other. The end seemed a bit rushed and less conclusive than I would have liked.
Overall it was an entertaining read, didnt go as deep as Rohinton Mistry but therefore may make the issues more accessible to some. Written and released in India , some of the nuances I didnt get ( like the horror of a woman on her own unmarried and drinking beer in her forties) may be my ignorance of the strength of social norms in India.
The second book is about the blooming trade in wombs in India, how Western women are using poor women in India as surrogate mothers. I will probably read it as the first book was an entertaining read, just not an all time favourite.
February 8, 2012
Houve um momento, ao longo deste livro, em que senti que algo pegajoso se colava à minha pele… Mais tarde, ao reflectir sobre a história, cheguei à conclusão que era simplesmente vestígios da humanidade que li, que aflorou através do reflexo de um dos lugares mais sombrios da terra que, curiosamente, se enfeita com as cores mais vivas do mundo.
A Testemunha da Noite fala-nos de Durga e de Simram, duas mulheres privilegiadas atendendo a uma India particularmente cruel com o seu sexo. Com faixas diferentes elas narram pensamentos e descobertas feitas ao longo do seu passado e no presente, enquanto reflectem um país em evolução mas que continua preso a convenções retrogradas.
Kishwar Desai, como indiana, dá-nos um retracto muito fidedigno das suas origens através de uma escrita versátil e extramente apelativa onde acompanhamos diferentes formas de pensar ao longo de um enredo com mais lágrimas que sorrisos, até um desenlace de cortar a respiração.
Opinião completa: http://historiasdeelphaba.blogspot.co...
A Testemunha da Noite fala-nos de Durga e de Simram, duas mulheres privilegiadas atendendo a uma India particularmente cruel com o seu sexo. Com faixas diferentes elas narram pensamentos e descobertas feitas ao longo do seu passado e no presente, enquanto reflectem um país em evolução mas que continua preso a convenções retrogradas.
Kishwar Desai, como indiana, dá-nos um retracto muito fidedigno das suas origens através de uma escrita versátil e extramente apelativa onde acompanhamos diferentes formas de pensar ao longo de um enredo com mais lágrimas que sorrisos, até um desenlace de cortar a respiração.
Opinião completa: http://historiasdeelphaba.blogspot.co...
May 2, 2021
A hauntingly grim representation of the real issues within India. Desai smartly explores the the corrupting effects of the patriarchy and culture whilst adhering to hard-boiled detective tropes. Simran Singh is a lonely, cynical alcoholic who becomes surrounded by a web of characters with intriguing motives and backstories, all whilst the plot trods along in discovering the truth behind a family murder with the sole survivor being a fourteen year-old girl. The chapters felt dense, particularly because each opened with a diary entry from Durga and concluded with an email correspondence. Whilst the writing did feel overbearing at times, the harsh realness of the content matter cannot be denied and the shadowy, conspiratorial way the story wraps itself around the reader was dangerously exciting.
June 16, 2012
3.5 Simran is a free lance social worker who is called to investigate whether the 14 yr. old girl they have in custody actually killed her whole family. This is far from your typical mystery, it is very character oriented and a cultural study of the old India clashing with the new. In a small town, that still follows the old ways girls are not wanted and what happens to these unwanted children is the focus of this novel. Appalling that things like this still happen in an emerging nation, but the author makes it very clear that is does. I liked this book, liked the characters and found it well written and extremely interesting. Anyone who does not like typical mysteries and likes the study of different cultures will find this book fascinating.
November 2, 2017
One of the worst books I've ever read. The plot was so??? stupid??? Kind of unrealistic and confusing at the end. Everything seemed so.. simple. There were absolutely no obstacles except for everyone being weirdly ambiguous to the social worker for no reason. When she confronted the tutor and the officer with her accusations, they just confessed to it and that was it. The writing style was horrible. The characters were unbelievable. Everything about this novel was bad. Had to read it for class though.
July 29, 2013
I enjoyed reading the book, although enjoyed is not the right word to
use. It is about female infanticide, gender bias and drug abuse in the PUnjab.
The protagonist is a great character, Simran singh, and through her eyes, we witness the autrocities
of society on vulnerable and weak women. One needs ro have a heart of steel to
realise how indiscriminately and visciously girls are killed at birth or aborted
in some parts of India. A must read to know about the dark side of Indian society.
use. It is about female infanticide, gender bias and drug abuse in the PUnjab.
The protagonist is a great character, Simran singh, and through her eyes, we witness the autrocities
of society on vulnerable and weak women. One needs ro have a heart of steel to
realise how indiscriminately and visciously girls are killed at birth or aborted
in some parts of India. A must read to know about the dark side of Indian society.
February 14, 2016
This is stellar work of fiction that shines a light on a very real problem (well, several). It is a dark read but extremely well crafted. That Desai can draw attention to a serious problem in India while at the same time engrossing the reader through a complex mystery is a credit to her talent and voice. The ending twist is breath taking. Sign me up for every future book by Kishwar Desai. Five bursting stars.
February 16, 2012
I’d heard of female foeticide in India before reading this book but it was much more powerful than any news story because of the emotions Kishwar Desai tries to convey in the story. The writing wasn’t brilliant and sometimes the plot felt a little disjointed but this was well worth a read to understand a particular Indian mind when it comes to male and female babies. Just so sad.
October 17, 2014
Although I was fascinated by the issues raised in this novel, the writing lacked clarity and became tangled and confusing by the end. The main mysterious event (a devastating fire) was never clearly explained. I felt the ending was rushed and messy. All in all I am left with mixed feelings about this novel and can't help being left a sense of disappointment.
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