***3 Stars....
At first, I hated this book. I read it for English class as sort of a group book report and my friend picked it out. The problem is, it is so oddly written that when the story wasn't interesting, I could not get into it. The author is one of those who always uses really short, choppy sentences. She was also extremely descriptive, but about things I didn't care to know. This, of course, bothered me to no end.
Overall, the book is about a 12 year old Indian girl named Leela who was engaged at 3, married at 10 and is about to move into her "husband's" house. It takes place in a time of unrest in India between native people and the British colonists. Leela and her family, however, are in the elite Brahman caste, where she is spoiled and unaware of any problems. When her husband dies suddenly, Leela is expected to follow her society's strict guidelines of widowhood, keeping corner. But when she decides to have a tutor come teach her, Leela discovers more about the world than she though could even exist. And suddenly, she doesn't understand why her life is this way.
Like I said, I really hated this book at the beginning and this was partly because I really didn't like any of the characters. Leela was selfish and spoiled. Her parents condoned the behavior and her other family members were all rude or absent. Also, it wasn't funny, there was no action or romance, so with the boring plot, there was almost nothing of substance.
But then Leela started changing, and with it, so did much of her family. I started liking characters and liking her, even. By the end, I actually started to care about Leela and hoped for her triumph over her strict culture.
All, in all, I can say I had mixed feelings toward this book, but I was glad that I had to plow through to the end.
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