The Bandit Queens

Veteran narrator Soneela Nankani takes Shroff’s rave-worthy debut to the next level. A group microloan affords Geeta, Saloni, Farah, and twins Preity and Priya some independence, but the men in (and out of) their lives still define them, according to village custom. Even among the women, Geeta’s husband Ramesh’s questionable disappearance six years prior marks her as either pitiable or perhaps even dangerous. When Farah approaches Geeta for help dispatching her own abusive husband, Geeta can’t bring herself to admit that Ramesh merely abandoned her. Accordingly, her reputation becomes fact, and Geeta is caught in an escalating series of violent “favors” to her loan group. Calling attention to the very real issues of misogyny, caste oppression, and bias against non-Hindu people in rural India, Shroff’s first novel educates through morbid humor and vivid characters. The “Bandit Queen” Phoolan Devi is Geeta’s role model for bravery (and vengeance), and a concluding author’s note fills in the history behind this real-life legend for interested listeners.