A Disobedient Girl by Ru Freeman
Published by the Penguin Group
Genres: Fiction, Asian Cultural, Contemporary, Family
Rating: 4.1/5 (I am partially biased because it was a Sri Lankan author)
Post Book Thoughts: Well don’t I live in a bubble!
A desperate young mother, a country in turmoil, a friendship betrayed.
Since her days in the orphanage, Latha has been a companion and servant to Thara, a more fortunate girl her own age. But since her trip to the hill-country, Latha has known she was destined for a better life. For now, she must watch silently as Thara receives all the luxuries Latha is denied, consoled only by the rose-scented soap stolen from the bathroom of her master’s house.
Years and miles away, Biso, a desperate young mother, flees from her murderous husband, taking her children with her to the remote hills. As Biso and Latha journey towards their separate fates, struggling to hold on to their independence, each will betray the people they love, changing the course of their life for ever.
So I got on a bit of a read more local literature train after February when we had OUR FIRST EVER GIVEAWAY AND IT WAS GREAT!
I will admit the start of the book didn’t impress me that much, it felt like one of those books that was heading down in the direction of ‘trying too hard to be a different kind of story’.
However!! I was determined to not add to my shelf of books I started reading and gave up halfway through, so I pushed through and oh man can I just say it was so worth it.
In this book you will find a captivating story of two people; Latha and Biso in their own separate timelines and you get to go together with them on their journey and discover how their lives connect (Warning: possible heartbreak at the end of the story).
There are problems in the lives of these people that are highlighted in this book which from my limited knowledge actually are the problems that the more marginalized people in this country face.
Fear not! It’s not one of those written to make you feel bad for your privileged life kind of novels, however it would make you think twice if you chose to be unkind to people just because they live lives different to yours (seriously no one should do that though). Personally to me it was more of a book that shows you that no matter what side of the story you are in things are going to happen that maybe you didn’t deserve, but how you handle it is entirely up to you.. yes I will stop getting all philosophical now (You can blame it on the fact that I just got over watching 13 reasons why)
ANYWHO! Read the book, if you can get your hands on it
