In the spirit of Khaled Hosseini, Nadia Hashimi and Shilpi Somaya Gowda comes this powerful debut from a talented new voice—a sweeping, emotional journey of two childhood friends in Mumbai, India, whose lives converge only to change forever one fateful night.India, 1986: Mukta, a ten-year-old village girl from the lower caste Yellama cult has come of age and must fulfill her destiny of becoming a … becoming a temple prostitute, as her mother and grandmother did before her. In an attempt to escape her fate, Mukta is sent to be a house girl for an upper-middle class family in Mumbai. There she discovers a friend in the daughter of the family, high spirited eight-year-old Tara, who helps her recover from the wounds of her past. Tara introduces Mukta to an entirely different world—one of ice cream, reading, and a friendship that soon becomes a sisterhood.
But one night in 1993, Mukta is kidnapped from Tara’s family home and disappears. Shortly thereafter, Tara and her father move to America. A new life in Los Angeles awaits them but Tara never recovers from the loss of her best friend, or stops wondering if she was somehow responsible for Mukta’s abduction.
Eleven years later, Tara, now an adult, returns to India determined to find Mukta. As her search takes her into the brutal underground world of human trafficking, Tara begins to uncover long-buried secrets in her own family that might explain what happened to Mukta—and why she came to live with Tara’s family in the first place.
Moving from a traditional Indian village to the bustling modern metropolis of Mumbai, to Los Angeles and back again, this is a heartbreaking and beautiful portrait of an unlikely friendship—a story of love, betrayal, and, ultimately, redemption.
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Took me to a world and culture I knew nothing about. It hurt to think this is still happening.
What a haunting look into the power of friendship, the power of love, and the power of forgiveness. Do yourself a favor and step into this world.
Some of this book was difficult to read because it had a lot of human trafficking descriptions. The two girls in the book live in two different worlds, but the one who was destined for a deprived life was rescued for some time and she lived with the other girls’ loving family, although she was treated as a servant. There was a lot of sadness throughout the book, but it was well-written.
Cepressing and slow.
Since this takes place in India, a lot of things don’t seem fair to me, as an American. But, even here I believe we put people boxes and we judge them and their lifestyles. I enjoyed the book and would this author again.
This book was different than any other I have read. It took me to cultures I was not familiar with.
Excellent descriptive writing. It gives you a real feeling for what it’s like to grow up in the caste system in India. A very moving story with twists, turns and surprises. I would definitely recommend this book. I had a hard time putting it down.
I loved the characters and the story.
Excellent
I loved this story. I enjoy reading books dealing with other cultures. The reason I chose world building because stories like this give me a much better understanding of values other cultures have.
This is one of the best books I have read recently. It is not a happy book, and shows the reality of brothels in India, and what happens to the girls in them. It also gives a look at Indian culture and the caste system, but more than that, it tells the universal story of how and why people keep secrets, the choices they make and their ramifications, especially in light of societal expectations and biases. The two primary characters, Muktu and Tara, are girlhood friends, but information that touches each of them deeply leads to tragedy. Throughout the most degrading scenes, however, you keep hoping that the girls will find each other again. I will not give a spoiler, but much happens, both good and bad, and the book continually draws you along, hoping that the next chapter will reveal something good.
Caveat: I do have a weakness for stories set in India, because I have been there, and can visualize the streets of Mumbai and Kolkata. But the reader does not need this in order to enjoy this book. The story is based on a real life, and you can find out more by going to the author’s site. Highly recommended.
This is a great read and takes on a side of India we need to know about but is usually hidden. The happy ending for the main characters is believably written but probably never happens. Doesn’t matter in this story, though, as it is told with compassion, realism, and some excellent writing.
The ending was pretty predictable. But the story line kept my interest.
Loved this book that has the Mumbai tragedies with redemption. The plot was unusual and kept me guessing!
So well written, with many details that bring everything together to tell the complete and inspirational story.
This was a very heart-warming story, it took me to another place.
It was terrible. Awful romance type novel.
Very well written and informative book about the child sex trade in India and how lives can end up very differently at the slightest turn of events. The author’s descriptions made the settings palpable and gave great insight and depth to the story.
Completely enjoyable from beginning to end.
A great story of a very different culture. Very interesting.