Ms. Hen reviews Leila

Leila

Prayaag Akbar

Faber & Faber

2018

Ms. Hen decided to read this novel because she watched the adaptation on Netflix recently, and she was enthralled with the story. However, the ending of the show left her disjointed, and she wanted to know if the book was the same as the show. The two are drastically different. Ms. Hen won’t get into the differences here, but they are both excellent and deserve your attention.

This novel is set in 2040s India, and it’s about a woman, Shalini, who is trying to find her daughter Leila. The caste system is still in place, and time has made it worse. Lower caste people in India do not have access to water, and some have to pick through trash to survive, while the upper classes have lawns and air conditioned houses and safe neighborhoods and decent food. Leila is taken from her parents because they are mixed religions; Shalini’s husband Riz is Muslim. Leila is snatched during her lavish birthday party where the family filled the swimming pool, and have an excess of food, and a bartender and ice sculptures. Shalini suspects Riz’s brother of informing the authorities on their activities.

After the party, Shalini is sent to a “Purity Camp” where women who have not behaved according to the leaders’ demands are sent. They are made to work, and are insulted and degraded. The women are brainwashed and are given sedatives. Shalini only wants to find her daughter. She spends years looking for her, doing drastic things, and she doesn’t know if she is dead or alive.

Many people have said that LEILA is similar to THE HANDMAID’S TALE, and Ms. Hen noticed this right away. It’s a dystopian novel that has to do with women’s issues, but this is more of a mother’s tale than the struggle of women against men. Shalini is typical in her plight to find her daughter, who was taken away under dire circumstances. It made Ms. Hen wonders if there is a chance that this is what the world will come to in a few years.

The writing style in this novel is very easy to read and enjoyable. Ms. Hen thinks the author does a fantastic job of telling the story through the point of view of the unreliable narrator, Shalini. She doesn’t know what is happening, and at times the reader does not know either. Also, in the writing of this novel, there is an odor to the descriptions. Ms. Hen could imagine how putrid some of these places smelled. The contrast of how lovely some of the areas were, and the scents there, such as underneath the dome; Ms. Hen could easily grasp those as well.

Ms. Hen loves dystopian fiction, especially that has to do with women’s issues. This is a scary novel about a time in the future that might come to fruition. It’s Halloween season, and even though this is not a typical Halloween book, Ms. Hen thinks it’s frightening and unsettling enough to fall under this category. Ms. Hen thinks that we have to prepare for how messed up the future will be, and she thinks by reading books like LEILA, it will help us to get ready for a transformed world.