The Daughters of Madurai: Heartwrenching yet ultimately uplifting, this incredible debut will make you think

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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. 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 family setting of the book and the atmosphere of India created by the descriptions of foods, sights and smells. The representation of the Indian locations in the contemporary 2019 timeline felt like wishful thinking than realistic. I don’t know if this was to cater to the American market, but bowling isn’t a popular pastime activity in India at all. So to see characters choose bowling as their option one for relaxing made me laugh. And please, what in the world is ‘Thank Bhagavan!’ Phrases aren’t to be translated verbatim across languages. There are many cultural inaccuracies as well. I wish authors didn’t bend facts so much just to cater to the target market. JANANI KNEW, THE MINUTE THE MIDWIFE PLACED her naked, squalling, soft-as-silk daughter in her arms, that she couldn’t lose this one. An image came to her mind, burying a bundle gone cold and still in the dirt by the young coconut palm. Her hands drew the hated little body closer. Tiny limbs moved in fitful pumps as Janani looked down into a face as round and purple as a mangosteen. The baby’s mouth shifted over the swollen skin of her breast, and her plaintive wail died as she found the nipple and began to feed. Her minute fingers rested against the skin over Janani’s heart.”

Rajasree Variyar

The author clearly knows both the locations and it shows in her writing. I don’t know Sydney, but I do know Madurai, and and it felt like she captured the pulse of the ambience without denigrating it. The crowds, the travel, the cityscape,… all felt genuine. ( Mind you, this point applies only to the past timeline and only to the portrayal of the location, not that of the people.) 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 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, so she agrees to join her parents on a trip to Madurai. Nila knows little about where her family came from or who they left behind. What she’s about to learn will change her forever. Heartrending but ultimately hopeful, this richly evocative and spellbinding book will touch your soul' VERONICA HENRY Without going into spoilers: Lavanika is five and had no living siblings. Nila is two years older than Rohit. The timelines have a 27 years gap. This data won't make sense to you now, but if you read the book, you'll realise that this simple maths will reveal much in advance, a supposedly surprising twist. I am one who likes characters’ ages being mentioned, but in this case, they were a spoiler to what should have been an ‘Oh my!’ moment.

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… 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. The ultimate feelings I came away from this book have meant I have thought of it a few times since finishing, and I will certainly enjoy this once it is released, and have no hesitation to gift it out to others. 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 captivating and riveting debut from an unforgettable new voice.”—Louise O’Neill, author of Asking for ItFans of historical and contemporary fiction novels about India such as Alka Joshi’s THE HENNA ARTIST from the Jaipur Trilogy and Thrity Umrigar’s THE SPACE BETWEEN US, as well as Kristin Hannah’s books exploring sisterhood and mother-daughter relationships, will enjoy Variyar’s poignant debut. This extraordinary work of fiction tells a story that deserves to be read and discussed for years to come.

The Daughters of Madurai by Rajasree Variyar publishes today, April 27th, with Orion Books and is described as a ‘heart-wrenching, thought-provoking book club debut’. Inspired by the horrific stories of female infanticide, Rajasree Variyar spent time at grass-roots level with a charity in Madurai. This charity was working to eliminate this barbaric act by educating and empowering the local community from a young age. After her experiences there, Rajasree Variyar took what she had witnessed first hand and created this emotive debut that highlights a mother’s heart-breaking fight for her unborn daughter.

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 . . .

Years later, in 2019,Nila, who has grown up in Australia, comes to India with her parents to see her dying grandfather one last time. She has a secret to reveal to them as well. She also hopes to know more about where her mother came from, her family and her own history but she ends up getting more than she bargained for. I read another book set in a Malayali household too, about the preference to a male child across generations. Still, in this one, I was confused with the plethora of characters and relations among them. This is embarrassing for me to say because I was born and raised in South India. But I didn't easily get through the Malayali relations and references. Having a daughter is a curse. It’s the same as watering your neighbor’s plants and never your own.” - Janani 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 . . .

Perfect for fans of Christy Lefteri and Delia Owens, The Daughters of Madurai is a moving and powerful debut from an unforgettable new voice. I really admire this author as she’s written a story which will inform and educate a lot of people but also encourage dicusssion of many issues within. The stories were threaded nicely but for a fuller picture I would have loved to have found out more about Janani’s story before she had her family. There are a few characters on the sidelines that I also wanted to know more about. Hope Shubha is ok!