The Bandit Queens: Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2023

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It could all be pretty heavy, but somehow Shroff manages to balance the overwhelming weight of patriarchy (domestic abuse is a regular subject) with humor and hilarity. There are antics, there are jokes, there is a lot of coarse language. I suspect some readers will find all of this unrealistic when applied to women of color from a developing region, but if you are finding yourself having those responses I would recommend you sit with that for a while. Karon, Tony (25 July 2001). "India's Bandit Queen died as she once lived". Time. Archived from the original on 21 December 2022 . Retrieved 20 December 2022. When she was 11, Phoolan’s family married her to an older man. After being abused by her husband for several years, she managed to escape him and fall into the company of a gang of bandits. Devi participated in gang activities until she was kidnapped and taken to Behmai where she was repeatedly tormented and publicly humiliated over the course of 3 weeks. She was 17 years old.

I enjoyed this enormously. Geeta is an isolated woman because her abusive husband walked out five years ago and she hasn't spoken to her once-best friend properly in years. Really, it's a classic women's fiction story of a woman realising that women's solidarity and friendship is crucial, finding her own self-respect, and even finding a decent reliable guy. It's just, the path we take to get here is multiple murder. Manju Jain, Reading Rape: Sexual Difference, Representational Excess and Narrative Containment pp.9–16, in: Narratives of Indian Cinema Primus, 2009 ISBN 978-9-38-060779-5 With Geeta's dangerous reputation becoming a double-edged sword, she has to find a way to protect the life she's built—but even the best-laid plans of would-be widows tend to go awry. What happens next sets in motion a chain of events that will change everything, not just for Geeta, but for all the women in their village.

The Bandit Queens

Shroff’s debut isa darkly hilarious takeon gossip, caste, truth, village life, and the patriarchy. A perfect match for fans of Oyinkan Braithwaite’s My Sister, the Serial Killer andclever, subversive storytelling.” —Booklist (starred review)

Freedom must look good on Geeta, because now other women are asking for her “expertise,” making her an unwitting consultant for husband disposal. When she was 11, Phoolan's family married her to an older man. After being abused by her husband for several years, she managed to escape him and fall into the company of a gang of bandits. Devi participated in gang activities until she was kidnapped and taken to Behmai where she was repeatedly tormented and publicly humiliated over the course of three weeks. She was 17 years old.The court case concerning the Behmai massacre began in 2012; of the twenty-three people facing charges, sixteen (including Devi) were dead by 2020. Of the seven remaining suspects, three were on the run (including Man Singh). A verdict was expected in January 2020 and then delayed because important case documents had been lost. [63] The last witness died the following year, and since the presiding judge had been transferred, the case began again in 2022. [64] [65] In 2023, another suspect died, leaving only two people on trial. [66] How the women in the village band together to overcome the obstacles of patriarchy and gender/ race/caste discrimination makes for an enjoyable book. Ashraf, Asad (8 March 2022). "22 Years after Phoolan Devi's murder, 'Bandit Queen' remains a divisive figure in Mirzapur". Outlook India. Archived from the original on 12 April 2023 . Retrieved 7 May 2023. In May 1979, Phoolan is abducted by Babu Gujjar ( Anirudh Agarwal). Gujjar is a physically imposing man and a ruthless, predatory mercenary. Although Gujjar's lieutenant Vikram is sympathetic towards Phoolan, Gujjar indiscriminately brutalizes and humiliates her, until one day Vikram catches him raping her and shoots him in the head. Vikram takes over the gang, and his empathy for Phoolan eventually grows into a relationship.