Gursel Ali

I agree with a lot of what has been written here. I feel like the book though beautifully written has missed the point of speaking through Sita’s voice. Her opinions, her fears and emotions were expressed well in this writing however I’m frustrated that every time Sita was betrayed by or punished by Ram or society that she could have spoken out against them. I know that one can’t rewrite the Ramayana however it would have been refreshing to trust that Sita’s version could have differed considerably to the narrative we have become accustomed to, a narrative probably written by a man writing about a very patriarchal society. Sita was robbed of her voice in the Ramayana and in this book her voice was mainly spoken in her thoughts never expressed out loud where they might have had some impact on the men in the narrative, perhaps humanising the men too. It would have been interesting to have had all the other women, mothers, sisters, wives and servants who appear in the book to have been a bit more fleshed out too instead of falling into stereotypes. Anyway I really loved the book though I think it was lacking a feminist’s tone.

Beautiful writing The languages of the ages She can with thrift convey everything and more.. like a song by Kate Bush I loved this book What an amazing debut