The Daughters of Madurai

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Heartbreaking, emotional and thought-provoking… I will think about this story for a long time’ ALIYA ALI-AFZAL As a low-caste cleaner for a wealthy family, Janani's duty has always been quiet obedience. Even at home, her mother-in-law's word is law. Janani has never dared to dream of a different life. But now, she has something she'll do anything to protect... even if it means losing everything she's ever known.

Heartrending but ultimately hopeful, this richly evocative and spellbinding book will touch your soul’ VERONICA HENRY Heartrending but ultimately hopeful, this richly evocative and spellbinding book will touch your soul' VERONICA HENRY Usilampatti of the 90s and Sydney of 2019 are two parallel stories that are connected and finally merge at the end revealing many truths while keeping the suspense alive. In Usilampatti, a young mother, Janani, is faced with desperate choices and will do anything to save her unborn daughter; Nila in Sydney keeps a secret from her parents till she embarks on a life-changing journey to Madurai and discovers more details about her family and how she was saved. While exploring the phenomenon of female infanticide, the story sensitively underlines the indomitable strength of women and the beautiful bond that mothers and daughters share. It also brings out the enigma of love and how it helps to defeat the obstacles in life. Sydney, 2019. Nila has a secret, one she’s been keeping from her parents for far 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 – the first in over ten years. Growing up in Australia, Nila knows very little about where she or her family came from, or who they left behind. What she’s about to learn will change her forever…

Customer reviews

Female Infanticide and all the obstacles and traditions that it brings including dowry, is the basis of this book. It is a poignant work set in 1992, a haunting reminder of a time when young mothers in Usilampatti were consumed by fear of losing their daughters in the womb or immediately after birth. The Daughters of Madurai opens with the line: “A girl is a burden, a girl is a curse”; and it hits a raw nerve. Just like the innumerable newspaper reports on Usilampatti’s social malady that undervalues women and their reproductive rights. It compelled the author to tell devastating stories about families. The book leaves a trail of heart-wrenching, endearing, hopeful and powerful emotions in the reader’s mind. Nila doesn't remember her life before they moved to Australia, and her parents never talk about their past. So when she joins her parents on a trip to their hometown, Madurai, she hopes she'll finally uncover the truth. Especially as Nila seeks acceptance for a secret of her own...

It wasn't as heavy to read as some books of a similar genre I've read, and it didn't diminish anything for me. If anything, I think that while more depth at times can help a book like this, here I felt it would've minimised the overall messages and premise of the book. It would also be a great book to gift to someone who might usually find this sort of thing too depressing or too serious to read. It wasn't sugar-coated either. It had a balance that I think benefitted it more than detracted. The Daughters of Madurai is a mother-daughter love story. It also gives an alarming insight into female infanticide and misogyny, as well as the strength and fortitude necessary to be a woman and a mother. Nila doesn’t remember her life before they moved to Australia, and her parents never talk about their past. So when she joins her parents on a trip to their hometown, Madurai, she hopes she’ll finally uncover the truth. Especially as Nila seeks acceptance for a secret of her own…

Featured Reviews

The Kallar community, concentrated in Usilampatti taluk, accounts for nearly 80% of its 2.65 lakh population. It is said there is hardly a poor Kallar family where a female baby was not murdered during the 90s. People are aware of the cruel crime but do not admit it, and it continues sporadically. Enigma of love Debutant novelist Rajasree Variyar writes the story of a mother — belonging to a poor Kallar family, the landless community infamous for female infanticide — who is constantly reminded that she is worthless if she bears daughters. As a low-caste cleaner for a wealthy family, Janani’s duty has always been quiet obedience. Even at home, her mother-in-law’s word is law. Janani has never dared to dream of a different life. But now, she has something she’ll do anything to protect… even if it means losing everything she’s ever known. This is a subject that I personally haven't seen written about an awful lot, so I was extremely interested to see how it was covered. While not a true historical aspect, we still have the generations gap to contemporary day in how the book is presented. Heartbreaking, emotional and thought-provoking... I will think about this story for a long time' ALIYA ALI-AFZAL