A Disobedient Girl: A Novel by Ru Freeman



My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book presents two related stories, trading of narration between chapters of Biso, a woman fleeing from her husband with her children in the beginnings of the Sri Lankan civil war and Latha's, which covers the early 1980s through the present.



Both stories are incredibly gripping and through her prose Freeman has created two incredibly complex but compelling characters. Both are inherently flawed, but the first person narrative allows the read to empathize and ultimately root for both of them as they attempt to make their way.



Part of my initial attraction ot the book was due to its advertisement to follow the lives of two women through the changing fortunes of the Sri Lankan civil war. Although the political and military situations are very briefly covered, there is little exploration of the realtionship between the Sinhalese and Tamil peoples or of the practical effects of politics on the people's lives. The government is always dealt with tangentially. Despite the fact that the book did not cover these matters (as promised on the flap) the two stories were phenomenal and worth pursuing with vigor.



View all my reviews >>