Someone Else’s Garden - Softcover

Rai, Dipika

3.62

449 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007355114 ISBN 13: 9780007355112

Publisher: William Collins, 2012

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A big, intensely involving and evocative Indian novel, perfect for fans of Vikas Swarup's Slumdog Millioniare, with its emotive and, ultimately, redemptive story.

‘Will she recall that night? Or is it one of those too horrible times that her brain, taking pity on her soul, will choose to wipe out the memory? When she realizes what happened, she will recall it as the night she did her duty for her family, with no sense of shame or lingering fear. She will be matter-of-fact about it, resigned and, therefore, resilient.’

Mamta, born low-caste and female in rural India against a backdrop of poverty and prejudice, is destined to be some man’s property. Her father says that bringing her up is only ‘tending someone else’s garden’ until a husband is found for her. Eventually saved from becoming one of the nameless and faceless millions of rejected humanity, Mamt survives but at a terrible cost.

Lyrically told, this powerful story of a woman’s struggle to find acceptance compels us to question: Is life random? Or do we have a destiny?

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Review:

‘A riveting page-turner that fills the reader with rage and despair and yet, somehow, against all the odds, finds the end a message of love and hope.’ Daily Mail

From the Back Cover:

The eldest of seven children, born low-caste and female in rural India, Mamta is abused and rejected by a father whocan see no reason to "water someone else's garden" until ahusband is found for her. Seeking escape in matrimony, Mamta beginsher wedded life with hope--but is soon forced to flee her village and thehorrors of her arranged marriage to the bustle of a small city. Saved from becomingone of the nameless and faceless millions of rejected humanity by thesalvation of sublime love, Mamta struggles to find a precarious state ofacceptance and make peace with her past.

Powerfully affecting and uplifting, set against a vivid and colorful backgroundof Eastern life, Dipika Rai's Someone Else's Garden transcends geographicaldivides and cultural chasms to brilliantly expose the commonalityof the human condition, compelling us to seek answerswithin ourselves to humanity's eternalquestions: Is life random?Do we have a destiny?

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