The Island of Lost Girls

Escape #2

by Manjula Padmanabhan

This is the story of Meiji – the only girl who has remained untouched and unmutilated in a country that has savaged its entire female population. Having saved her from certain death in the new Dark Age that has come upon the world, her gaurdian, Youngest, has transported her to the only place where she can remain safe – an Island where wounded girls are, sometimes literally, stitched back together and given a new life.

But the Island itself is a menacing place, and Meiji may be in more danger than ever before. To see what has become of his beloved girl, Youngest must find a way to infiltrate its odd environs while keeping the constantly assaulting voice in his head at bay. His struggles against the surreal inhabitants of a world gone wrong and with his own transformed identity only serve to steel his efforts to find the girl, and escape once more...

The Island of Lost Girls showcases, yet again, Manjula Padmanabhan’s genius at creating searing landscapes and alternate, sometimes brutal, worlds while reaffirming the beauty and the ugliness, the cruelty and the tremendous compassion that essentially make us human.

Genres: Science Fiction, India

360 pages, Paperback

First published July 20, 2015

About the author

Manjula Padmanabhan is a playwright, novelist, journalist, comic strip artist, and children's book author.

Reviews

[Kerstyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not particularly experienced at writing book reviews, but feel this book deserves one.

I picked this book up on a trip to Mumbai, at a local bookstore. It contains disturbing images and themes, which is made clear in the summary and reviews on the covers. What was not made clear is that there is a prequel, but this is fine as the book stands well on its own. In fact, I think this works in its favor to lend a mysterious quality to the story and forces the reader to pay attention to context clues.

Anyone who has read Atwood or LeGuin should be able to draw similarities here, to dark and distressing worlds whose themes reflect reality and where motivation and world qualities are unclear and the only recourse is to simply keep reading with focus and patience. I can understand why some readers do not enjoy the content, but cannot help but feel a similar book under a name like Chuck Palahniuk would garner far more praise than this has.

[Lavanya · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was gripping enough to warrant my finishing it, but its characters and worlds were stale and weren't the least bit compelling as they ought to have been. Meh. Disappointed.

[Aparna_vaidyar · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is set in a modern dark age and it is quite fascinating as the theme is entirely fresh and of course you will find a lot of strange things happen in the story. But once you hooked up with this story you will never have an escape from it. It is really contradicting since it deals with two entirely different communities where one considers feminine energy as the utmost energy whereas the other kills women to make it a male-dominated world. I don't know if I could describe the story as a father searching for his daughter. It is more like a world dominated by machines, drones, and half human-half machine things.

[Ishwar · Rating 5 out of 5]

As one review says, "Wilder, crueller and more hallucinatory than any other novel out there", Manjula Padamabhan's The Island of lost girls is a wild, intrepid, fluid and trippy take on the future. A must read for every science fiction reader.

[Battameez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not an easy book by any means. Like its predecessor Escape, this one also deals with a gender/caste dystopian/race system. But this book was so much more brutal, Escape almost pales in comparison! I'm reviewing this book, so I'll probably have more detailed thoughts about it soon.

[Dipanjan Kundu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Posthumanist

This book is mesmerizing. The author uses posthumanist characters and narrative style. This is recommended to all the students, scholars, teachers as well as non-academics.

[Kalpana Misra]

Hmmmm. It's strange and dark. Very dark. The reader is betrayed by the writer, often. Brutal. But I love the feminism and the social commentary. Beautifully written.

[Charitha Natta · Rating 2 out of 5]

I sincerely apologise to the author for mistakenly assuming that this is the first book in the series. It's not. Forgive me for my mistake.