I was lucky enough to be sent a review copy of Disobedient Women, the debut novel from Sangeeta Mulay, and the first novel published by Fly on the Wall Press, who generally publish poetry and anthologies. It's out on November 25th but if you like the sound of it you can pre-order it directly from the publisher.
The novel is set in Pune in India, and is about feminism, extremism and the impact that social media can have on people's real lives. It begins with a horrific event and then goes back in time through snapshots of different characters points of view to build up to the event. There is a big trigger warning here for sexual assault, so if that's something you find hard to read about please be aware.
The central character, Aparna, is an atheist feminist in a society where women have an expected role and place. Her refusal to conform to social expectations and her vocal position on freedom of speech causes her a lot of backlash on twitter, and as this builds, she brushes it off while those around her worry that it will lead to something more. On the other side of the story is Hari, a man who was brought up devoutly religious and becomes radicalised by social media, ending up leading an extremist group. These two central characters are directly opposed to each other throughout the book, and almost like a mirror Mulay gives voice to both of their daughters - very different characters to their parents.
I have been thinking a lot about Disobedient Women since reading it, which for me is the sign of a good book. The way that the author explores the dynamic between parents and children, especially when those parents have extreme views (to either end of the spectrum) was really interesting. Both daughters push back against their parents and against society; one rebelling against her parents expectations and wanting the ability to express her true self, and the other going inward into a shame spiral at the shame brought on her and her family by her mother, in a society where the desire to avoid shame and to have a respected family is of utmost importance.
Disobedient Women also has a lot of really interesting male characters, displaying a spectrum of masculinity. Aparna's husband Manish is the progressive feminist man, supportive husband, promoter of equality, but even he has his limits... Meanwhile his friend Shirish dislikes Aparna for her outspokenness and thinks women should stay in their place, and finally there's Hari, who has a wife because his father arranged a marriage for him, but never connects with her on any emotional level, and is abusive to her and child.
It's a well written novel with a lot of layers and a lot going on. All of the characters were cleverly intertwined, with different parts of their stories weaving together at different points to form the whole, and it's well paced and gripping. It doesn't have the most satisfying ending for a person like me who likes neat resolutions, but that's not to say it's a bad ending for the story!
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