Synopsis

Madurai, 1992. A young mother in a poor family, Janani is told she is useless if she can’t produce a son – or worse, if she bears daughters. They let her keep her first baby girl, but the rest are taken away as soon as they are born and murdered. But Janani can’t forget the daughters she was never allowed to love.

Sydney, 2019. Nila has a secret; one she’s been keeping from her parents for too long. Before she can say anything, her grandfather in India falls ill and she agrees to join her parents on a trip to Madurai. Nila knows very little about where her family came from or who they left behind. What she’s about to learn will change her forever. 

Review

There are some books that manage to be beautiful and horrific at the same time. The Daughters of Madurai is one of them. Told in a dual timeline, we are almost immediately given the evidence to work out the family dynamic, yet in this instance, we still want to go on the journey.

Janani’s story is more interesting and has more depth, filled with fear and sorrow. We learn of her struggle to conceive a male child, which not only angers her husband and mother-in-law, but results in the murder of several of her baby daughters.

Rajasree Variyar is a stunning writer, ensuring that readers feel the horror of the baby girls’ fate almost immediately. It’s stark, brutal and upsetting – even if you have prior knowledge of it, reading about it happening so recently makes it worse somehow.

Nila is a modern Australian girl, who has neglected her Indian heritage and is worried about coming out to parents she believes are still quite traditional. Unaware of her family history, the trip to Madurai opens her eyes not only to the horrors her mother faced almost 30 years ago, but also to her forgotten family and how much India has changed in that time.

Although the modern story is interesting, the book may have been more impactful had we only had Janani’s side, but perhaps this is because we know how it will all end so there is no need for us to invest in Nila’s words.

It’s an emotional read, with several upsetting scenes, but at the same time there is so much hope. There is also love, friendship and courage. Janani’s friends are fiercely loyal and protective and reading about how they are there for each other is extremely heart-warming.

Overall, it’s a phenomenal debut that will stay with me for a long time.

Thanks to Orion Books for my proof copy. Opinions my own.