About Book:

Author: Kiran Jhamb

Publisher: Dattsons

Pages: 70

ISBN: 978-81-7192-087-7

For women, especially in India, it’s a vicious cycle of learning and unlearning. Throughout her upbringing (pre-marriage phase), she is taught to obey – first her parents, then her in-laws. She is taught to be polite and pretty, selfless and pleasing. Whereas, in the latter phase (post-marriage), a few get to live their fairytale and most start questioning and unlearning their childhood learnings the hard way.

She Wants Out …and other stories by Kiran Jhamb is a collection of short stories of the latter type. They revolve around the hardship, biasness, and compromises women face and make.

Each and every story is relatable and extraordinarily enraging. Some stories have sad journey but happy ending whereas some carry intensive and sadly ubiquitous climax. For instance, the story of Devi who just couldn’t stand up against her in-laws – an overly dominating sister-in-law, a submissive husband who didn’t value her, and contemptuous brother-in-law.

To balance it out, there are also some stories that portray the cunningness and deceit of women which make you even madder. In particular, Anjana’s story, where she smartly persuades her husband against abiding his father’s last wish – to support his mother and sisters financially.

The book is engrossing because of the way it brilliantly weaves a plethora of vivid images that display the realism of our patriarchal society. Besides, it is also a quick read. You can complete it in one sitting.

The book had several grammatical errors and some stories could’ve been even better. It is definitely worth a read.

My rating – 3.5

This review copy was given to me by Book Pitara.