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A People's History of Heaven
A politically driven graffiti artist.
A transgender Christian convert.
A blind girl who loves to dance.
A queer daughter of a hijabi union leader.
These are some of the young women whom readers will come to love in the phenomenal novel, A People's History of Heaven.
Welcome to Heaven, a thirty-year-old slum hidden between brand-new high-rise apartment buildings and technology incubators in contemporary Bangalore. In Heaven, you will come to know a community made up almost entirely of women. They live hand-to-mouth, constantly struggling against the city government's plans to bulldoze their homes and build yet more glass high-rises.
This is a story about geography, history, and strength, about love and friendship, about fighting for the people and places we love – even if no one else knows they exist.
A transgender Christian convert.
A blind girl who loves to dance.
A queer daughter of a hijabi union leader.
These are some of the young women whom readers will come to love in the phenomenal novel, A People's History of Heaven.
Welcome to Heaven, a thirty-year-old slum hidden between brand-new high-rise apartment buildings and technology incubators in contemporary Bangalore. In Heaven, you will come to know a community made up almost entirely of women. They live hand-to-mouth, constantly struggling against the city government's plans to bulldoze their homes and build yet more glass high-rises.
This is a story about geography, history, and strength, about love and friendship, about fighting for the people and places we love – even if no one else knows they exist.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2019
99 people are currently reading
6172 people want to read
About the author
Mathangi Subramanian
17 books78 followersMathangi Subramanian, Ed.D., is a writer, educator, and activist. She previously served as Senior Policy Adviser to former New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, an Assistant Vice President at Sesame Workshop, and a public school teacher in Texas and New York. She has received numerous honors, including a Fulbright-Nehru Research Fellowship and a Jacob Javits Fellowship.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 356 reviews
February 19, 2019
Heaven, worlds away from the life I know, a slum in Bangalore and yes, it’s a slum called Heaven. I was expecting to find poverty and repression here, but I had no idea that I would find the joy of beautiful friendships, loyalty, love, and hope nor mothers and daughters with strength and a desire to just live their lives . Fending off the government that wants to bulldoze their homes, these women and girls exhibit strength and concern for each, especially the five young girls. Deepa who can’t see, but loves to dance isn’t allowed to go to school, but her friends won’t let her miss the opportunity to dance in a school competition. Padma has to become the adult in her family while she is still a young girl. Banu, the artist has been left with her grandmother and you wonder what will happen to her talent. Joy is a transgender and Rukshana struggles with her sexuality I couldn’t help but want these girls to have a safe and happy life and couldn’t help but wonder if it was possible. An amazing sense of community, of belonging in a place that seems far from any heaven we might imagine is at the center of this book that had me captivated with the author’s beautiful writing and these wonderful characters. A story of place and culture.
I received an advanced copy of this book from Algonquin Books through Edelweiss.
I received an advanced copy of this book from Algonquin Books through Edelweiss.
August 26, 2019
This is a gloriously inspiring, lyrical and poetic debut novel from Mathangi Subramanian of an almost completely female community, of discarded women, surviving hand to mouth on a daily basis, amidst the high rises of a Bangalore indifferent to their plight. Heaven is indeed a place on earth, perhaps a suprising one, teeming with poverty, repression and oppression. But look closer, for within the impoverished community is a joy, resilence, colour and vibrancy that will charm and endear itself to you. There are challenges and obstacles galore, such as the fight against a government and its bulldozers planning to raze down Heaven and replace it with a shopping mall, a fitting symbol of our rapacious consumerist world. Amidst a wide cast of characters, there is a focus on a group of incredible diverse young girls, their remarkable friendships, their unwavering support of and loyalty to each other. There is Deepu, the wonderful blind dancer, the transgender Joy, a recently arrived migrant to Heaven, Padma, the artist, Banu and still coming to terms with her sexuality, Rukshana. This is a beautifully written novel, where within poverty and squalor, is a narrative shot through with dreams and hope that survive amongst everyday bleak realities. It speaks of mother-daughter relationships, the strength drawn from close supportive friendships, and the power of women in a world that deals them such poor cards in life. This is a fabulous read which I loved, just pure heaven! Many thanks to Oneworld Publications for an ARC.
June 29, 2019
A different version of Heaven…
What a strange, cool book! It takes place in a Indian slum called Heaven and tells the story of five teenage girls trying to find their place in the world. Oh god that sounds bland, when really this is the most poetic book I’ve read this year.
Well, poetic, yes, but sometimes I just liked the sound of the words strung together; it didn’t matter to me that the sentence doesn’t actually make sense.
Here’s a sample:
“Leela’s mornings are black eyes and battered limbs, bruised skin and broken bones. But mornings are also brides and grooms, gold and silk, fire and roses. Escape velocities mapped out like calculations on an astrologer’s chart.”
Oh what a fabulous paragraph! But wait a minute. I get the first two beauties, but I don’t get that last sentence—at all! Escape velocities escape me! So can a book have too much poetry, some of which is unintelligible? Let me head on over to the Complaint Board, where I can whine to my heart’s content.
Complaint Board
-Too much poetry? There’s so much imagery and so many metaphors, my brain was murmuring “overkill.” Maybe the author is just showing off, or maybe since this is her debut, she wants to make sure every sentence is memorable and pretty. I’m sure the author got an A in Creative Writing 101, which hints at the fact that there’s some author self-consciousness going on here (and some reader eye-rolling, too). Plus, I don’t know, my head got tired of trying to make sense of the abstract images; it wanted to hear people talk and see people do things.
-Who’s who? The beginning chapters describe the (many, maybe too many) characters, one by one. Character sketches, really, or poetic reports. I could see the author writing up character profiles while she was storyboarding her book, all very orderly. Since the characters weren’t talking and interacting yet, it was hard to keep track of who was who. All the characters are listed at the front of the book, with a sentence or two describing them. I had to refer back to that list too many times. It’s not supposed to be such hard work.
-I love verbs, I really do… The style of writing bugged me. A friend of mine took a writing course and the teacher insisted that everyone in the class write in a certain minimalist style. She claimed that the style, with emphasis on unadorned verbs and a stinginess of pronouns, is what sold books. I think the writer went to that workshop! I love verbs, I really do, but I got sick of them starting off so many sentences. Here are two samples (I get annoyed with the sound of these sentences even as I write them here):
“…Rukshana cuts herself peeling carrots. Forgets to go to the water pump, spills flour all over the floor. Leaves the iron on her trousers…”
“Rukshana nods. Tilts her head and watches.”
-In the middle of the book, I had a hissy fit. Seriously, who the hell is who here? This is torture! Do I have to keep reading?? Back to check out the list of characters at the front of the book. And back again. It doesn’t make any sense if you don’t know who’s who. Enough! I could just throw this sucker onto the floor and pull another more luscious book out of the pile. The fantasy of a DNF was satisfying. I don’t have to read this, I really don’t. I decided to give it maybe another half hour, and if I didn’t get pulled in, it would be Off with Its Head! Obviously, I did get pulled in, and I was finally able to figure out who was who. There were a couple of scenes that really grabbed me. There was one about a girl writing letters and finding a letter that will stick with me; would love to see it as a short story. I was so happy that I didn’t ditch the book!
-Narrator, tell me your name! I’m betting most people won’t have trouble with the narrative style, but I did. The narration switches between first-person plural and third-person omniscient. First-person plural means it’s “we” everywhere. I didn’t mind the switching, but the “we” part made me think the one narrating the story was another girl in the gang. Who is this mysterious girl who won’t tell me anything about herself or how she fits in? There are five girls, but does this mean that the extra girl narrator makes six? I know the “we” was supposed to signify the collective spirit of the group, but it didn’t work for me.
-Where’s the plot? Other than bulldozers coming to flatten their slum (and even that isn’t a consistent story), there isn’t a plot. There isn’t a climax, there isn’t much of an ending. There are all these little side stories—many of which would be great as short tales.
-Couldn’t get a visual. This is really strange, because the individual images are so vivid—but I just didn’t have a clear picture of the slum. I did keep seeing bulldozers because they are mentioned a million times, but I couldn’t picture the streets or the houses—or even the people.
Despite these umpteen items on my Complaint Board, I was blown away by the poetic language. I pulled out a bunch of quotes that I love to reread; they make my soul do a jig. The characters—once I could keep track of them all--were unique, complex, and intriguing. Among the gang, we have a transgender, a gay girl, a graffiti artist, and a blind girl.
This is a book about women and the power of community. About surviving amid chaos and without money or good shelter. The story is a little message-y, but it didn’t bother me because it’s a culture where women are so oppressed, it’s right to shine a light on their lives.
This book started off as strong 5 stars, then slowly turned into a 4 as things started bugging me (the two biggest problems being the unfocused plot and my pain in trying to figure out who was who). When I reached the middle and had my little hissy fit, I knew I had to deduct another point. So this isn’t a mediocre-ville 3 stars—it’s an off-the-beaten-path 3 stars. I like the idea of this book more than the experience of reading it.
My gripes probably won’t be your gripes, so I encourage you to check this one out if you like literary fiction. It’s definitely a different kind of book. Wow, this is the nicest I’ve ever been to a 3 star.
Thanks to Edelweiss for the advance copy.
What a strange, cool book! It takes place in a Indian slum called Heaven and tells the story of five teenage girls trying to find their place in the world. Oh god that sounds bland, when really this is the most poetic book I’ve read this year.
Well, poetic, yes, but sometimes I just liked the sound of the words strung together; it didn’t matter to me that the sentence doesn’t actually make sense.
Here’s a sample:
“Leela’s mornings are black eyes and battered limbs, bruised skin and broken bones. But mornings are also brides and grooms, gold and silk, fire and roses. Escape velocities mapped out like calculations on an astrologer’s chart.”
Oh what a fabulous paragraph! But wait a minute. I get the first two beauties, but I don’t get that last sentence—at all! Escape velocities escape me! So can a book have too much poetry, some of which is unintelligible? Let me head on over to the Complaint Board, where I can whine to my heart’s content.
Complaint Board
-Too much poetry? There’s so much imagery and so many metaphors, my brain was murmuring “overkill.” Maybe the author is just showing off, or maybe since this is her debut, she wants to make sure every sentence is memorable and pretty. I’m sure the author got an A in Creative Writing 101, which hints at the fact that there’s some author self-consciousness going on here (and some reader eye-rolling, too). Plus, I don’t know, my head got tired of trying to make sense of the abstract images; it wanted to hear people talk and see people do things.
-Who’s who? The beginning chapters describe the (many, maybe too many) characters, one by one. Character sketches, really, or poetic reports. I could see the author writing up character profiles while she was storyboarding her book, all very orderly. Since the characters weren’t talking and interacting yet, it was hard to keep track of who was who. All the characters are listed at the front of the book, with a sentence or two describing them. I had to refer back to that list too many times. It’s not supposed to be such hard work.
-I love verbs, I really do… The style of writing bugged me. A friend of mine took a writing course and the teacher insisted that everyone in the class write in a certain minimalist style. She claimed that the style, with emphasis on unadorned verbs and a stinginess of pronouns, is what sold books. I think the writer went to that workshop! I love verbs, I really do, but I got sick of them starting off so many sentences. Here are two samples (I get annoyed with the sound of these sentences even as I write them here):
“…Rukshana cuts herself peeling carrots. Forgets to go to the water pump, spills flour all over the floor. Leaves the iron on her trousers…”
“Rukshana nods. Tilts her head and watches.”
-In the middle of the book, I had a hissy fit. Seriously, who the hell is who here? This is torture! Do I have to keep reading?? Back to check out the list of characters at the front of the book. And back again. It doesn’t make any sense if you don’t know who’s who. Enough! I could just throw this sucker onto the floor and pull another more luscious book out of the pile. The fantasy of a DNF was satisfying. I don’t have to read this, I really don’t. I decided to give it maybe another half hour, and if I didn’t get pulled in, it would be Off with Its Head! Obviously, I did get pulled in, and I was finally able to figure out who was who. There were a couple of scenes that really grabbed me. There was one about a girl writing letters and finding a letter that will stick with me; would love to see it as a short story. I was so happy that I didn’t ditch the book!
-Narrator, tell me your name! I’m betting most people won’t have trouble with the narrative style, but I did. The narration switches between first-person plural and third-person omniscient. First-person plural means it’s “we” everywhere. I didn’t mind the switching, but the “we” part made me think the one narrating the story was another girl in the gang. Who is this mysterious girl who won’t tell me anything about herself or how she fits in? There are five girls, but does this mean that the extra girl narrator makes six? I know the “we” was supposed to signify the collective spirit of the group, but it didn’t work for me.
-Where’s the plot? Other than bulldozers coming to flatten their slum (and even that isn’t a consistent story), there isn’t a plot. There isn’t a climax, there isn’t much of an ending. There are all these little side stories—many of which would be great as short tales.
-Couldn’t get a visual. This is really strange, because the individual images are so vivid—but I just didn’t have a clear picture of the slum. I did keep seeing bulldozers because they are mentioned a million times, but I couldn’t picture the streets or the houses—or even the people.
Despite these umpteen items on my Complaint Board, I was blown away by the poetic language. I pulled out a bunch of quotes that I love to reread; they make my soul do a jig. The characters—once I could keep track of them all--were unique, complex, and intriguing. Among the gang, we have a transgender, a gay girl, a graffiti artist, and a blind girl.
This is a book about women and the power of community. About surviving amid chaos and without money or good shelter. The story is a little message-y, but it didn’t bother me because it’s a culture where women are so oppressed, it’s right to shine a light on their lives.
This book started off as strong 5 stars, then slowly turned into a 4 as things started bugging me (the two biggest problems being the unfocused plot and my pain in trying to figure out who was who). When I reached the middle and had my little hissy fit, I knew I had to deduct another point. So this isn’t a mediocre-ville 3 stars—it’s an off-the-beaten-path 3 stars. I like the idea of this book more than the experience of reading it.
My gripes probably won’t be your gripes, so I encourage you to check this one out if you like literary fiction. It’s definitely a different kind of book. Wow, this is the nicest I’ve ever been to a 3 star.
Thanks to Edelweiss for the advance copy.
April 13, 2019
Heaven is a beautiful place because of the people living inside. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
A diverse group of women are living in a slum named Heaven in Bangalore, India. Heaven is a hidden building in between other fancy, new high rises in an urban area of the city.
The community of strong women calling Heaven home are mothers and daughters “left behind” by men because of the search for a male heir. The women are destitute, not knowing where their next meal will come from. On top of that, the city regularly threatens to bulldoze the slum, and they’ll have nowhere to live.
This is a stunning tale of the unconditional love between best friends. The main characters are five such best friends, and they are each others’ biggest supporters and allies.
A People’s History of Heaven is powerful, haunting, uplifting, entrancing, and transportive. The writing is lyrical, the characterization vivid, the storytelling divine, and all the pieces come together in remarkable way. I already cannot wait for Subramanian’s next book! Reading this was an exceptional and memorable experience.
I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
My reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com
A diverse group of women are living in a slum named Heaven in Bangalore, India. Heaven is a hidden building in between other fancy, new high rises in an urban area of the city.
The community of strong women calling Heaven home are mothers and daughters “left behind” by men because of the search for a male heir. The women are destitute, not knowing where their next meal will come from. On top of that, the city regularly threatens to bulldoze the slum, and they’ll have nowhere to live.
This is a stunning tale of the unconditional love between best friends. The main characters are five such best friends, and they are each others’ biggest supporters and allies.
A People’s History of Heaven is powerful, haunting, uplifting, entrancing, and transportive. The writing is lyrical, the characterization vivid, the storytelling divine, and all the pieces come together in remarkable way. I already cannot wait for Subramanian’s next book! Reading this was an exceptional and memorable experience.
I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
My reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com
March 19, 2019
!! NOW AVAILABLE !!
4.5 Stars
Heaven is a slum in Bangalore, named for the Sanskrit word left on a broken sign, the word for heaven, and it is where the stories of these families take place. There are eighteen people of note in this story, but the primary focus is on five girls on the verge of womanhood who attend the local government school.
Banu is an artist, her grandmother, her ajii, one of the original residents of Heaven; Deepa, who is visually impaired, is a dancer who doesn’t attend the school with the other girls; Joy is the youngest in the family with three older brothers, is transgender, identifying as a girl; Rukshana, who struggles with her sexuality, especially as a Muslim, and how she fits in; and Padma, who bears a lot of weight as the only member of her family who is educated, and therefore takes on adult responsibilities. These five girls are naturally accepting, and protective of each other, in such a way to tighten their bond even more. When their homes in Heaven are threatened by demolition with bulldozers, they choose to fight back rather than accept defeat.
I didn’t know, going into this book, that this author, Mathangi Subramanian, has written other books, although this is her debut novel for adults. There is a smooth, effortless flow to her writing that I wasn’t expecting. Given the setting and what little I knew of this story, I was pleasantly surprised by the many moments of loveliness, and ultimately I found this to be an uplifting story. It is not without some moments of sadness, and it does tackle some of the issues that face women, particularly Indian women, but in any area that fosters some of the issues facing these women.
With such beautiful, lyrical writing, and such a spellbinding story, I did not want to put this book down.
Pub Date: 19 Mar 2019
Many thanks for the ARC provided by Algonquin Books (thank you Andrew!)
4.5 Stars
Heaven is a slum in Bangalore, named for the Sanskrit word left on a broken sign, the word for heaven, and it is where the stories of these families take place. There are eighteen people of note in this story, but the primary focus is on five girls on the verge of womanhood who attend the local government school.
Banu is an artist, her grandmother, her ajii, one of the original residents of Heaven; Deepa, who is visually impaired, is a dancer who doesn’t attend the school with the other girls; Joy is the youngest in the family with three older brothers, is transgender, identifying as a girl; Rukshana, who struggles with her sexuality, especially as a Muslim, and how she fits in; and Padma, who bears a lot of weight as the only member of her family who is educated, and therefore takes on adult responsibilities. These five girls are naturally accepting, and protective of each other, in such a way to tighten their bond even more. When their homes in Heaven are threatened by demolition with bulldozers, they choose to fight back rather than accept defeat.
I didn’t know, going into this book, that this author, Mathangi Subramanian, has written other books, although this is her debut novel for adults. There is a smooth, effortless flow to her writing that I wasn’t expecting. Given the setting and what little I knew of this story, I was pleasantly surprised by the many moments of loveliness, and ultimately I found this to be an uplifting story. It is not without some moments of sadness, and it does tackle some of the issues that face women, particularly Indian women, but in any area that fosters some of the issues facing these women.
With such beautiful, lyrical writing, and such a spellbinding story, I did not want to put this book down.
Pub Date: 19 Mar 2019
Many thanks for the ARC provided by Algonquin Books (thank you Andrew!)
February 21, 2019
In Bangalore, India, nestled behind a luxury high rises, lies a little bit of heaven. Yet, for most of us, this would not be considered to be heaven at all, but a place where poverty dwells, lives are crushed, and dreams and hope are non existent. And yet...
"If you're a girl in heaven, you don't get out much. Too many eyes watching you.
There are people residing in Heaven. There are young girls with dreams, with hopes. There are their mothers, their Auntys, their fathers who look to each other for affirmation, for things to be better than they were before, for opportunity to come and enfold them with happiness, and if not happiness, then a sense of belonging, of being able to be something, someone that is true to what and who they are.
There are girls who experience the needs of today, wanting education, wanting to be accepted as what they are, be they gay or transsexual, be they straight. They depend on one another, Banu, the artist, Deepa the blind dancer, Joy, the transgender, Padma, a migrant new to Heaven, as well as a cast of others who despite where they live have found glimpses of happiness which they grasp and hold on to. Some are encouraged to pursue their dreams. Janaki Ma'am, the school mistress, wants all students to succeed. She is passionate, dedicated to the road education can lead these children down. She instills in them respect for learning and goes to many lengths to insure they will succeed.
There are the traditional characters as well, one who never uses her own name or other's but instead refers to them as ..the wife of, or the mother of..... as if a woman has no identity other than that of being a mother or a wife. There are those who value only sons while not seeing the brilliance of their daughters, while there are others who struggle so to fit into the religious mores of the country they inhabit.
And yet, there is hope. Hope that comes from believing in yourself, in seeing yourself in the vision that others have for you, that find their place, not always an easy place for sure, in a country, in a slum, that has given them life. If is a story of friends, relatives, parents, who move with the times, while others stay back, and see with eyes open that their children's futures lie not in the past, but in a future where all may be equal and educated.
This was a trip down a road beset by poverty and yet, there is so much good, so much light in the path forward that these people will walk. It is that hope and vision which propel this new author's book into a future that just might be a bit of the real heaven someday.
Thank you to Mathangi Subramanian for writing this book of expectation, to Andrew at Algonquin Books for sending me a copy of this new author's first effort, and to Algonquin Books for taking a chance and allowing a new voice to be heard.
This book will be published on March 19,2019.
"If you're a girl in heaven, you don't get out much. Too many eyes watching you.
There are people residing in Heaven. There are young girls with dreams, with hopes. There are their mothers, their Auntys, their fathers who look to each other for affirmation, for things to be better than they were before, for opportunity to come and enfold them with happiness, and if not happiness, then a sense of belonging, of being able to be something, someone that is true to what and who they are.
There are girls who experience the needs of today, wanting education, wanting to be accepted as what they are, be they gay or transsexual, be they straight. They depend on one another, Banu, the artist, Deepa the blind dancer, Joy, the transgender, Padma, a migrant new to Heaven, as well as a cast of others who despite where they live have found glimpses of happiness which they grasp and hold on to. Some are encouraged to pursue their dreams. Janaki Ma'am, the school mistress, wants all students to succeed. She is passionate, dedicated to the road education can lead these children down. She instills in them respect for learning and goes to many lengths to insure they will succeed.
There are the traditional characters as well, one who never uses her own name or other's but instead refers to them as ..the wife of, or the mother of..... as if a woman has no identity other than that of being a mother or a wife. There are those who value only sons while not seeing the brilliance of their daughters, while there are others who struggle so to fit into the religious mores of the country they inhabit.
And yet, there is hope. Hope that comes from believing in yourself, in seeing yourself in the vision that others have for you, that find their place, not always an easy place for sure, in a country, in a slum, that has given them life. If is a story of friends, relatives, parents, who move with the times, while others stay back, and see with eyes open that their children's futures lie not in the past, but in a future where all may be equal and educated.
This was a trip down a road beset by poverty and yet, there is so much good, so much light in the path forward that these people will walk. It is that hope and vision which propel this new author's book into a future that just might be a bit of the real heaven someday.
Thank you to Mathangi Subramanian for writing this book of expectation, to Andrew at Algonquin Books for sending me a copy of this new author's first effort, and to Algonquin Books for taking a chance and allowing a new voice to be heard.
This book will be published on March 19,2019.
October 26, 2020
Times today don't allow jaded jokes or malicious irony: no, today we want what feels like goodness. Things can go sour quickly we've noticed, and nothing is more certain than this in a small "slum" of Bangalore. But gee, we've traversed terrains like this before, on screen (Slumdog Millionaire) and popular lit (Animal's People); but, scratch that. It's actually nothing like that. And it comes with a bonus too: we NEED this kind of stuff!
Our modern spoiled-brat me me me and things to buy days need this shattering cry from a place on the outskirts of our modern age, the outliers of their own geography & place in history. The downtrodden in the book give you such a sense of gratitude in "Heaven", that first-time novelist Subramanian can rest assured she's done a public service. AND written a beautiful book. Her storytelling is always surprising, always emotion-filled. & guess what? Want to read THE Global #MeToo Novel of NOW, encapsulated with beautiful female characters & stories about mothers & daughters that will keep you fully engrossed? Eh? Now...How about THE LGBTQ+ Indian Novel You Never thought EVEN existed? Well, "A People's History' is BOTH. The writer is nothing short of a revelation; one that drops from above precisely when we need it most.
Our modern spoiled-brat me me me and things to buy days need this shattering cry from a place on the outskirts of our modern age, the outliers of their own geography & place in history. The downtrodden in the book give you such a sense of gratitude in "Heaven", that first-time novelist Subramanian can rest assured she's done a public service. AND written a beautiful book. Her storytelling is always surprising, always emotion-filled. & guess what? Want to read THE Global #MeToo Novel of NOW, encapsulated with beautiful female characters & stories about mothers & daughters that will keep you fully engrossed? Eh? Now...How about THE LGBTQ+ Indian Novel You Never thought EVEN existed? Well, "A People's History' is BOTH. The writer is nothing short of a revelation; one that drops from above precisely when we need it most.
March 29, 2019
an exceptional story drenched in culture and hope!
Mathangi Subramanian has intricately woven together the threads of these five girls lives into a beautiful story. Five extraordinary girls living in a slum called Heaven in Bangalore India. Now a slum is probably the furthest thing from heaven for most of us, but I think these girls might beg to differ. Surrounded with friendship and love these girls were an impenetrable support system for one another. There was so much beauty in how unconditionally these five friends excepted one another. I don’t know about you but I find that priceless! That was my biggest take away from this book the bond that all the women shared in this book was seriously enviable.
Heaven is being threatened with being bulldozed down, the women rally to fight and in doing so we learn the backstory of each of these incredible girls and the women in their lives. Each of these girls is trying to find their place in the world just like any girl anywhere, however they have quite a few more obstacles than others including religion, poverty, culture, and politics. Each girl has their own unique circumstances: an artist, a visually impaired girl Who loves to dance, a transgender girl, a girl struggling with her sexuality, and a girl that has been forced to grow up too fast with the burden of her family on her shoulders. Each girl’s story was unique and powerful, I really enjoyed every minute I spend with each of these young ladies. Their circumstances were so incredibly different from my own, but at the very heart there was so much that was similar. I love learning about other cultures it is another benefit of being a reader. But the more I read the more I realize that we are all more similar than different.We want to be loved, we want to find a place where we belong, and we all hold on to hope! Another thing I have learned is the more dire peoples situations are the more resilient they appear to be. This is a book that will stick with me for a long time, I definitely recommend!
*** many thanks to Algonquin for my copy of this book ***
July 8, 2019
This book narrates the life stories of five young girls who grow up in a slum called "Heaven" in Bangalore, and while it touches upon numerous social issues, the tone remains light and playful - this is the highly accessible cousin of Arundhati Roy's The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. In an attempt to reflect the diversity of the slum population, Subramanian introduces characters with different religious beliefs and family backgrounds, gender identities and sexual orientations as well as physical disabilities. Connected by their common faith of being female in a patriarchal society, our main characters Rukshana, Joy, Deepa, Banu, and Padma stick together and try to overcome various obstacles, mainly the planned destruction of "Heaven" which is threatened to be demolished so a new shopping mall can be build. The girls are the ones who drive the action forward, who determine the focus and direction of the book while learning to speak up for themselves. And while this is certainly heart-warming and sends a positive message of female empowerment through solidarity, the text sometimes dangerously ventures into kitsch territory.
I really enjoyed how the author employs the first person plural as a narrative voice: This is very hard to pull off without sounding pretentious, and Subramanian's version of this stunt reads effortless and natural. In addition to that, she is jumping between characters and timelines, thus also shining a light on the destinies of the girls' mothers and grandmothers, which gives the story a historic dimension. We hear about the impact of poverty, casteism and sexism, about forced sterilization, the longing for education and the pressure to become a wife and mother, and all of these vignettes are told with great empathy.
Subramanian is a former public school teacher and education expert, and this novel would certainly also be suitable for younger reading audiences: It doesn't require any prior knowledge of India, refrains from using strong language or explicit imagery and is generally - let's face it - not particularly challenging to read. But it is certainly a well-written, intelligent, entertaining novel and full of heart.
I really enjoyed how the author employs the first person plural as a narrative voice: This is very hard to pull off without sounding pretentious, and Subramanian's version of this stunt reads effortless and natural. In addition to that, she is jumping between characters and timelines, thus also shining a light on the destinies of the girls' mothers and grandmothers, which gives the story a historic dimension. We hear about the impact of poverty, casteism and sexism, about forced sterilization, the longing for education and the pressure to become a wife and mother, and all of these vignettes are told with great empathy.
Subramanian is a former public school teacher and education expert, and this novel would certainly also be suitable for younger reading audiences: It doesn't require any prior knowledge of India, refrains from using strong language or explicit imagery and is generally - let's face it - not particularly challenging to read. But it is certainly a well-written, intelligent, entertaining novel and full of heart.
March 21, 2019
Heaven in this story is one of the thrown-together slums of Bangalore, India, a place populated with the lowest ranks of Indian life. There are some full families, with both parents and children, but more commonly there are women alone or with children and grandchildren. Sometimes primarily female children for they are the less important and less powerful in life. All girls and women enter life here with a mark against them.
When we enter Heaven, we meet a varied group of girls and their families and friends. We see their daily lives and frequent frustrations. The major group issue is the threat to their threadbare homes. The city has been sending bulldozers out to demolish the slums, one by one, in order to build new roads and malls, and Heaven’s turn is coming soon. There is no place for these people to go. And this group of girls has become so close that they become each other’s support. Inspired by the head of their school, several in this group are learning to strive for college, for true jobs, an escape from the slums altogether.
The author has written a novel with realistic, often difficult, aspects of Indian life. Most of what we see are the city problems of the poor, especially those faced by women and cultural and social minorities. But she also provides us with moments of romance, humor and magic as this group of girls discover who they are and what they want. Subramanian taught me while I was reading about Heaven and all of these girls. I wish I could meet Deepa, Padma, Banu, everyone and that we could speak each other’s language. I recommend this book for a look at one part of India and some very strong girls and women.
Thank you to Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill/Workman Publishing for providing an ARC. Thanks in particular to Andrew.
When we enter Heaven, we meet a varied group of girls and their families and friends. We see their daily lives and frequent frustrations. The major group issue is the threat to their threadbare homes. The city has been sending bulldozers out to demolish the slums, one by one, in order to build new roads and malls, and Heaven’s turn is coming soon. There is no place for these people to go. And this group of girls has become so close that they become each other’s support. Inspired by the head of their school, several in this group are learning to strive for college, for true jobs, an escape from the slums altogether.
The author has written a novel with realistic, often difficult, aspects of Indian life. Most of what we see are the city problems of the poor, especially those faced by women and cultural and social minorities. But she also provides us with moments of romance, humor and magic as this group of girls discover who they are and what they want. Subramanian taught me while I was reading about Heaven and all of these girls. I wish I could meet Deepa, Padma, Banu, everyone and that we could speak each other’s language. I recommend this book for a look at one part of India and some very strong girls and women.
Thank you to Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill/Workman Publishing for providing an ARC. Thanks in particular to Andrew.
Read
February 26, 2019Mini review:
DNF
I received this E-ARC via Algonquin Books and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Trigger warning: Mention of bullying. Homes being torn down.
I was really looking forward to reading this! I saw that synopsis and knew I had to request it. Unfortunately it wasn’t for me.
I really didn’t like the writing style. I’m sure it gets better. But I could barely read a paragraph.
Still recommend.
DNF
I received this E-ARC via Algonquin Books and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Trigger warning: Mention of bullying. Homes being torn down.
I was really looking forward to reading this! I saw that synopsis and knew I had to request it. Unfortunately it wasn’t for me.
I really didn’t like the writing style. I’m sure it gets better. But I could barely read a paragraph.
Still recommend.
March 26, 2019
Thank you so much Algonquin for my free copy!
Thus far, I have had the most phenomenal year of reading. I am somewhat new to reading diverse books so this has been the most amazing surprise!
Set in Bangalore, India we follow in first person narrative five schoolgirls who call a slum their home. The slum is a community made up almost entirely of women who were discarded for who they are or for not being able to live up to the standards of men. It is nestled between high-rises and has a damaged sign on the outskirts of it with the word Heaven written in Sanskrit. But the city government has scheduled it for demolition. It may not be a heaven on earth but it is these women’s home and they will fiercely defend it.
The schoolgirls we follow are Deepa, who is kept out of school due to partial blindness, Padma, who’s family dynamics make things difficult for her, Joy, who is transgender and incredibly smart, Rukshana, a queer finding her way in the Muslim religion, and Banu, an artist who’s grandmother is a prominent figure in the community for being one of its original members. These women are all strong, compelling characters who support one another in a place where they have been left to their own devices. These are brilliantly written characters.
Sabramanian is an exceptional writer and I was drawn into this story from the first page. I really enjoyed reading the backstory of each character and the focus on such issues as arranged marriage, forced sterilization, and social economics. The story is atmospheric and the writing is beautiful...quite simply, I love this novel.
Thus far, I have had the most phenomenal year of reading. I am somewhat new to reading diverse books so this has been the most amazing surprise!
Set in Bangalore, India we follow in first person narrative five schoolgirls who call a slum their home. The slum is a community made up almost entirely of women who were discarded for who they are or for not being able to live up to the standards of men. It is nestled between high-rises and has a damaged sign on the outskirts of it with the word Heaven written in Sanskrit. But the city government has scheduled it for demolition. It may not be a heaven on earth but it is these women’s home and they will fiercely defend it.
The schoolgirls we follow are Deepa, who is kept out of school due to partial blindness, Padma, who’s family dynamics make things difficult for her, Joy, who is transgender and incredibly smart, Rukshana, a queer finding her way in the Muslim religion, and Banu, an artist who’s grandmother is a prominent figure in the community for being one of its original members. These women are all strong, compelling characters who support one another in a place where they have been left to their own devices. These are brilliantly written characters.
Sabramanian is an exceptional writer and I was drawn into this story from the first page. I really enjoyed reading the backstory of each character and the focus on such issues as arranged marriage, forced sterilization, and social economics. The story is atmospheric and the writing is beautiful...quite simply, I love this novel.
Read
March 31, 2019In India, a slum called Heaven is being threatened with razing.
The local women rally to fight it. We get to know some of these women, each distinctive, but the true focus is on five girls, each with different circumstances, including one with adult-level responsibilities, a visually impaired dancer, and a trans girl.
The writing is graceful, vivid, the narration swooping into each girl in intimate space, then outward again to paint the community. The grim side of poverty and its cost are not sentimentalized, but this is far from being a grimdark book. Central is love and hope, trust and delight in small things.
I found it an absorbing, beautiful read.
Copy provided by NetGalley
The local women rally to fight it. We get to know some of these women, each distinctive, but the true focus is on five girls, each with different circumstances, including one with adult-level responsibilities, a visually impaired dancer, and a trans girl.
The writing is graceful, vivid, the narration swooping into each girl in intimate space, then outward again to paint the community. The grim side of poverty and its cost are not sentimentalized, but this is far from being a grimdark book. Central is love and hope, trust and delight in small things.
I found it an absorbing, beautiful read.
Copy provided by NetGalley
September 8, 2023
A wonderfully heartfelt coming of age that focuses on the beauties and tribulations of everyday life within a slum in Bangalore. Featuring the voices of a group of inseparable friends as they navigate government corruption, misogyny, and classism, but also as they fight for opportunity, experience first love, and overcome obstacles to pursue their futures, A People’s History of Heaven is a nuanced and brightly narrated account of queer joy, lifelong friendship, and standing up against oppression. It is a wide ranging celebration of women, be they mothers, teachers, daughters, artists; it is pulsing with resilience; our characters do not just resist, or survive, they thrive, and they continue to dream. This debut is powerfully constructed, with such ripples of love and representation.
March 22, 2019
3.5 stars Thank you to BookBrowse and Algonquin Books for allowing me to read and review this ARC. Published on March 19. 2019.
A poor lowly slum in Bangalore, hidden behind the city high rises. Houses physically built from scrapes. But the homes built with love. Five families - five young girls, well almost - who fight to live in this squalor they call Heaven, as bull dozers nosily idle nearby, waiting for a chance to grind up what little they have.
This book reminds me so much of Amy Tan's Joy Luck Club. Different nationality, different daily agenda, but the same mother/daughter dynamics. This is a debut novel, as was the Joy Luck Club for Tan, but it shows the resounding promise for Subramanian that sparked Tan's future career.
A poor lowly slum in Bangalore, hidden behind the city high rises. Houses physically built from scrapes. But the homes built with love. Five families - five young girls, well almost - who fight to live in this squalor they call Heaven, as bull dozers nosily idle nearby, waiting for a chance to grind up what little they have.
This book reminds me so much of Amy Tan's Joy Luck Club. Different nationality, different daily agenda, but the same mother/daughter dynamics. This is a debut novel, as was the Joy Luck Club for Tan, but it shows the resounding promise for Subramanian that sparked Tan's future career.
March 18, 2020
Good book. I found that the characters were very well done; they were a very diverse group of girls who all had very individual personalities and thoughts. Each girl, while growing up and struggling in the same place, had such a different and unique story. The relationships and bonds between the friends and the mothers and daughters were very strong, loving, intense and beautiful. This story is about strength, love and survival.
I did not really enjoy the plot aspect of the book. I don't dislike multiple timelines per say, but this book seemed to jump around too much for me. It kept taking me out of the story by jumping to another time and place and by the time I got re situated with the new setting, it jumped back or to another time. Also, I felt like there were too many characters for it to be a character driven book that was so short. It was easy to like the characters, but hard to really get to know and connect with them.
I would recommend it if you are into contemporary character driven stories as it is similar to some other popular books I have read of this type; I just think this style specifically is not really for me. I need a bit more plot and depth.
I did not really enjoy the plot aspect of the book. I don't dislike multiple timelines per say, but this book seemed to jump around too much for me. It kept taking me out of the story by jumping to another time and place and by the time I got re situated with the new setting, it jumped back or to another time. Also, I felt like there were too many characters for it to be a character driven book that was so short. It was easy to like the characters, but hard to really get to know and connect with them.
I would recommend it if you are into contemporary character driven stories as it is similar to some other popular books I have read of this type; I just think this style specifically is not really for me. I need a bit more plot and depth.
April 28, 2019
Mother-worry is a different kind of worry....
A People's History of Heaven is Mathangi Subramanian debut novel that explores a thirty year old slum called Heaven, situated in Bangalore, India that is going to be destroyed to make way for new high-rises and what the people from Heaven will do stop it. The book centers around five friends from Heaven:
Banu- a shy politically driven graffiti artist who loves building and construction, who is the glue of the group.
Joy- a transgender who became reborn Joy the day she was baptized as Christian.
Deepa- a gifted student and dancer who is forced to stay home because she is blind.
Rukshana- A queer, Muslim tomboy who is the mother of the group, fiercely loyal and protective.
Padma- The only literate person in her family who recently moved from the country to be in Heaven.
These five brave girls pull together along with their mothers and aunties to stand in front of bulldozers to ensure their homes aren't run over. In A People's History Of Heaven we get an inside look into the slums of Heaven, into the life of these girls and their aunts. We see hope, despair, joy, failure, friendship and acceptance being explored in the most beautiful way.
From the above feature, you can see there is a whole lot going on in this 288 pages book. I think for me, that is what led to why I did not thoroughly enjoy the book. Entirely too much was happening, I felt the author was like, "come, look here... wait, look at this, no wait, you HAVE to see this, did I show you this? oh, before you go, one more thing!" . My attention was pulled in so many different direction it was a lot.
I also felt there were entirely too many characters, I found myself going back trying to remember, "who is this again...". I generally like books with a lot of characters but this one was entirely too much, especially because each had very rich, thorough backstories. I found myself getting caught up in these backstories of these characters more than the main plot. For example, Padma replying to those unreturned letters was GOLD, I wish the author would write a book about that... now that would be amazing....
The writing style, *sigh*.... for me, it jumped all over the place and I was left lost at some parts. We go back and forth, from the five or more perspectives of the characters. I did not feel connected to any of the characters and I felt it was because I didn't spend enough time with them. Also, some of the situations were a bit forced and unrealistic, especially Padma's story line.
Overall though, I would recommend this novel if only for the diversity and reading about characters I generally don't hear from on a regular basis.
A People's History of Heaven is Mathangi Subramanian debut novel that explores a thirty year old slum called Heaven, situated in Bangalore, India that is going to be destroyed to make way for new high-rises and what the people from Heaven will do stop it. The book centers around five friends from Heaven:
Banu- a shy politically driven graffiti artist who loves building and construction, who is the glue of the group.
Joy- a transgender who became reborn Joy the day she was baptized as Christian.
Deepa- a gifted student and dancer who is forced to stay home because she is blind.
Rukshana- A queer, Muslim tomboy who is the mother of the group, fiercely loyal and protective.
Padma- The only literate person in her family who recently moved from the country to be in Heaven.
These five brave girls pull together along with their mothers and aunties to stand in front of bulldozers to ensure their homes aren't run over. In A People's History Of Heaven we get an inside look into the slums of Heaven, into the life of these girls and their aunts. We see hope, despair, joy, failure, friendship and acceptance being explored in the most beautiful way.
From the above feature, you can see there is a whole lot going on in this 288 pages book. I think for me, that is what led to why I did not thoroughly enjoy the book. Entirely too much was happening, I felt the author was like, "come, look here... wait, look at this, no wait, you HAVE to see this, did I show you this? oh, before you go, one more thing!" . My attention was pulled in so many different direction it was a lot.
I also felt there were entirely too many characters, I found myself going back trying to remember, "who is this again...". I generally like books with a lot of characters but this one was entirely too much, especially because each had very rich, thorough backstories. I found myself getting caught up in these backstories of these characters more than the main plot. For example, Padma replying to those unreturned letters was GOLD, I wish the author would write a book about that... now that would be amazing....
The writing style, *sigh*.... for me, it jumped all over the place and I was left lost at some parts. We go back and forth, from the five or more perspectives of the characters. I did not feel connected to any of the characters and I felt it was because I didn't spend enough time with them. Also, some of the situations were a bit forced and unrealistic, especially Padma's story line.
Overall though, I would recommend this novel if only for the diversity and reading about characters I generally don't hear from on a regular basis.
January 23, 2020
This book felt one note to me. Every chapter was basically about the same thing, and there were too many characters to follow. I really enjoyed it in the beginning because the prose was quite beautiful at times; but I slowly stopped caring when I realized all the characters' stories were quite simplistic.
And again I have this criticism: why, oh why, does every recent book need to include a trans character? Most of the depictions are unrealistic and not explored, and it really just seems like the author throws them in for diversity points. Give me a trans character who is well-developed, interesting, and not just on the sidelines.
And again I have this criticism: why, oh why, does every recent book need to include a trans character? Most of the depictions are unrealistic and not explored, and it really just seems like the author throws them in for diversity points. Give me a trans character who is well-developed, interesting, and not just on the sidelines.
February 15, 2019
The story was interesting but I did not like her writing. Every object had a synonym, analogy or overly descriptive. Keeping track of the 5 girls and their mothers was daunting. Very similar to "A Beautiful Forever".
April 19, 2020
I dnfd this book in the first few chapters. There was a conversation that I personally did not agree with. This book does not have a great "flow" so it reads a bit difficulty.
It reads more textbook like as opposed to fiction. If you enjoy that type of writing then you may like this.
It reads more textbook like as opposed to fiction. If you enjoy that type of writing then you may like this.
April 3, 2019
I won a copy in a Goodreads giveaway; this did not influence my review.
Two to two and a half stars.
A People's History of Heaven is an odd book in that I didn't find it to be plot-driven or character-driven. It is populated with too many characters and I had to repeatedly refer to the list of The People of Heaven to keep all of them straight. The plot is non-linear and jumps back and forth in time, typically without any demarcation or preamble indicating that a shift has taken place. Furthermore, the narration is odd in that it shifts rapidly from first person plural (as in "our mothers," or "us girls," but never singulars such as I or me/my) to third person omniscient. It's not exactly different perspectives in the typical sense of different characters' points of view, so I found the choice to switch jarring. I think Subramanian's intent was to show the five daughters of Heaven as a singular unit, however, so many other character's stories are shared in third person omniscient that I didn't find this to be an effective choice.
Despite all this, there were some positives in A People's History of Heaven. The book is set in a slum in Bangalore, India, and what ultimately kept me reading was the strong sense of atmosphere and the complex relationships. The girls and women of Heaven (the ironically named slum) have created a family, one with spats and disputes, but one that comes together in a crisis. It is a female-driven story in which they fight to overcome obstacles and obtain better lives, and the male characters are the marginalized ones. While the five girls all share the common struggle of poverty, each girl is saddled with individual struggles as well, including blindness and identifying as transgender. The writing itself is lyrical at times, but the descriptions don't always make sense or fit.
For a short novel, Subramanian attempted to take on too many characters, too much of a scope in time, and too many obstacles - in the end, just too much. This is a debut and I think I would enjoy reading a more focused novel by her in the future.
Two to two and a half stars.
A People's History of Heaven is an odd book in that I didn't find it to be plot-driven or character-driven. It is populated with too many characters and I had to repeatedly refer to the list of The People of Heaven to keep all of them straight. The plot is non-linear and jumps back and forth in time, typically without any demarcation or preamble indicating that a shift has taken place. Furthermore, the narration is odd in that it shifts rapidly from first person plural (as in "our mothers," or "us girls," but never singulars such as I or me/my) to third person omniscient. It's not exactly different perspectives in the typical sense of different characters' points of view, so I found the choice to switch jarring. I think Subramanian's intent was to show the five daughters of Heaven as a singular unit, however, so many other character's stories are shared in third person omniscient that I didn't find this to be an effective choice.
Despite all this, there were some positives in A People's History of Heaven. The book is set in a slum in Bangalore, India, and what ultimately kept me reading was the strong sense of atmosphere and the complex relationships. The girls and women of Heaven (the ironically named slum) have created a family, one with spats and disputes, but one that comes together in a crisis. It is a female-driven story in which they fight to overcome obstacles and obtain better lives, and the male characters are the marginalized ones. While the five girls all share the common struggle of poverty, each girl is saddled with individual struggles as well, including blindness and identifying as transgender. The writing itself is lyrical at times, but the descriptions don't always make sense or fit.
For a short novel, Subramanian attempted to take on too many characters, too much of a scope in time, and too many obstacles - in the end, just too much. This is a debut and I think I would enjoy reading a more focused novel by her in the future.
January 5, 2019
I finished this book though I considered not doing so. Maybe there were too many characters for a short book. Maybe the best way I can summarize is to suggest lots of characters in an underdeveloped story. I got to know some of the characters like Janaki Ma'am and Banu and Deepa BUT I kept waiting for something to engage me (even as a backstory and there were backstories told). Yes there were some described strong characters but I didn't get to see and feel that strength as much as I would have liked. Debated rating a 1 or 2 but I opted for a 1.
September 10, 2020
La storia toccante e poetica delle ragazze di Paradiso e delle loro madri, che cercano di salvare la loro casa dalla distruzione dei bulldozer. Un vero e proprio inno al potere delle donne, in ogni situazione, anche nelle più difficili.
April 27, 2019
This story is beautifully written. The messages are uplifting and carry a sense of hopefulness.
Ok, let me pause a bit here to quickly describe the plot...something I usually do not do. The book is about five teenage young women who live in a very poor neighborhood, "Heaven," as bulldozers threaten to clear the homes they know. The women confront oppressive, patriarchal situations and impoverished circumstances. But the story is NOT "poverty porn." Instead, these women are strong and rich in their own knowing. There are some strong mothers and grandmothers too. (And there are a few open-minded or sensible men. These guys stay out of the way.)
This book showcases how these women maintain their talents and nurture each other's growth and power. And the author crafts the story of these lives with affecting imagery and music.
(In the front part of the book, there's a list of the characters. I thought this was totally unnecessary. Perhaps it's some nod to the Western gaze but the reader can readily track who is who as well as figure out non-Western names. And besides, let us see through the book's gorgeous perspective. Let us struggle if we have to.)
Here several of my favorite quotes:
When Janaki Ma’am left, Deepa slid off of Neelamma Aunty's lap and onto the floor. Pulled the fabric of her hot dress over her nose and inhale deeply. It smelled like starch and thrift and perspiration and caution. And, around the neck, a little bit like fear.
Early on, we girls learn that life owes us nothing, that womanhood is a spectrum of nuances, heartbreaks, and tragedies. When Deepa sings and dances though? It's like she's got her feet on the string between sadnesses. Like she can stop time with the force of her joy.
It's funny being a girl. That thing that’s supposed to push you down, defeat you, shove you back, back, and further back still? Turn it the right way and it will push you forward instead.
Sometimes a dress is more than dress. Sometimes dress is a parachute, a promise of a hurtling fall, an uncertain journey. A soft landing.
Rukshana's city memories began to fragment and fade. She forgot the vicious burn of pavement on her bare feet, the defeated rattle of blue wooden vegetable carts crossing ripped up sidewalks, the salty odor of exhaust spewing from the tail pipes of local buses. Forgot that she was a girl governed by a set of rules, a being doomed to honor, silence, submission. Forgot who she was supposed to be. Became, instead, who she really was.
Rukshana’s mother: “When I cover, I am more than myself. I am all the women who covered before me. I’m the ones who cover now. So all the things the world wants me to be, want me to do? That men want me to be and do? I don’t have to be any of them. I don’t have to do any of them. Because I’m not myself. I’m more than myself. I’m everyone. And that’s what makes me brave and free.”
“I already know how to be brave,” Rukshana says. And she does. Fearlessness quivers inside her like the pulled-back string of an hunting bow. As long as she can remember that's how it's been.
Rukshana doesn’t care about being any braver than she already is. What she cares about is being free. Not the kind of free Fatima Aunty wants. Rukshana wants—not something more, exactly. But something different.
Bravery, she thinks, belongs to girls. But freedom belongs to boys.
…”It’s not that I don’t want to be part of something bigger,” Rukshana says to no one in particular. “It’s that I want to be myself first.”
Janaki Ma’am thought about the other girls at the orphanage, the ones who ran away, whispered stories to each other about the lives they left behind. Stories of uncles and brothers and fathers with hands that wanted too much. Of aunts and grandmothers and great grandmothers desperate to feed babies that wouldn't stop growing, wouldn't stop being born. Of cousins and sisters and sisters-in-law that's spat rumors and venom to protect themselves from the lives they were almost leading.
Janaki Ma'am thought of all the other places where memories could pool. The insides of ears. The edges of eyes. Ran her finger inside her collarbone, the curve where her neck met her chest. Pictured her heart as just a heart, her chest as just a chest, her body as a place where only she resided. A place holding only herself. A place that is her very own.
Yousef stares like he’s never seen her before. Her collarbone. Her neck. Her ankle. How the watery fabric flows along her crests and valleys. How it makes her whole body ebb and flow.
Joy is the moon and Yourself is the sea. And in that sari, it is always high tide.
As Yousef approaches her, Joy thinks, This. This is what it means to be a woman. This is how I will feel every day for the rest of my life. Or, at least, on wedding days, when I am free to wrap myself in seven yards of ammunition.
Yousef presses his thumb into a dimple where Joy’s shoulder meet her back.
“What’s this?” he asks.
“I don’t know,” Joy says.
They don’t watch how a part him fits a part of her that may or may not be strange.
Joy is young, and so are we. Not yet familiar with other people’s shapes.
But there is one thing Joy now knows, a thing she will teach us all: that our bodies are unique in small but important ways, ways that will put us in charge of other people’s hearts.
That we are, each of us, a collection of secrets waiting to be told.
Ok, let me pause a bit here to quickly describe the plot...something I usually do not do. The book is about five teenage young women who live in a very poor neighborhood, "Heaven," as bulldozers threaten to clear the homes they know. The women confront oppressive, patriarchal situations and impoverished circumstances. But the story is NOT "poverty porn." Instead, these women are strong and rich in their own knowing. There are some strong mothers and grandmothers too. (And there are a few open-minded or sensible men. These guys stay out of the way.)
This book showcases how these women maintain their talents and nurture each other's growth and power. And the author crafts the story of these lives with affecting imagery and music.
(In the front part of the book, there's a list of the characters. I thought this was totally unnecessary. Perhaps it's some nod to the Western gaze but the reader can readily track who is who as well as figure out non-Western names. And besides, let us see through the book's gorgeous perspective. Let us struggle if we have to.)
Here several of my favorite quotes:
When Janaki Ma’am left, Deepa slid off of Neelamma Aunty's lap and onto the floor. Pulled the fabric of her hot dress over her nose and inhale deeply. It smelled like starch and thrift and perspiration and caution. And, around the neck, a little bit like fear.
Early on, we girls learn that life owes us nothing, that womanhood is a spectrum of nuances, heartbreaks, and tragedies. When Deepa sings and dances though? It's like she's got her feet on the string between sadnesses. Like she can stop time with the force of her joy.
It's funny being a girl. That thing that’s supposed to push you down, defeat you, shove you back, back, and further back still? Turn it the right way and it will push you forward instead.
Sometimes a dress is more than dress. Sometimes dress is a parachute, a promise of a hurtling fall, an uncertain journey. A soft landing.
Rukshana's city memories began to fragment and fade. She forgot the vicious burn of pavement on her bare feet, the defeated rattle of blue wooden vegetable carts crossing ripped up sidewalks, the salty odor of exhaust spewing from the tail pipes of local buses. Forgot that she was a girl governed by a set of rules, a being doomed to honor, silence, submission. Forgot who she was supposed to be. Became, instead, who she really was.
Rukshana’s mother: “When I cover, I am more than myself. I am all the women who covered before me. I’m the ones who cover now. So all the things the world wants me to be, want me to do? That men want me to be and do? I don’t have to be any of them. I don’t have to do any of them. Because I’m not myself. I’m more than myself. I’m everyone. And that’s what makes me brave and free.”
“I already know how to be brave,” Rukshana says. And she does. Fearlessness quivers inside her like the pulled-back string of an hunting bow. As long as she can remember that's how it's been.
Rukshana doesn’t care about being any braver than she already is. What she cares about is being free. Not the kind of free Fatima Aunty wants. Rukshana wants—not something more, exactly. But something different.
Bravery, she thinks, belongs to girls. But freedom belongs to boys.
…”It’s not that I don’t want to be part of something bigger,” Rukshana says to no one in particular. “It’s that I want to be myself first.”
Janaki Ma’am thought about the other girls at the orphanage, the ones who ran away, whispered stories to each other about the lives they left behind. Stories of uncles and brothers and fathers with hands that wanted too much. Of aunts and grandmothers and great grandmothers desperate to feed babies that wouldn't stop growing, wouldn't stop being born. Of cousins and sisters and sisters-in-law that's spat rumors and venom to protect themselves from the lives they were almost leading.
Janaki Ma'am thought of all the other places where memories could pool. The insides of ears. The edges of eyes. Ran her finger inside her collarbone, the curve where her neck met her chest. Pictured her heart as just a heart, her chest as just a chest, her body as a place where only she resided. A place holding only herself. A place that is her very own.
Yousef stares like he’s never seen her before. Her collarbone. Her neck. Her ankle. How the watery fabric flows along her crests and valleys. How it makes her whole body ebb and flow.
Joy is the moon and Yourself is the sea. And in that sari, it is always high tide.
As Yousef approaches her, Joy thinks, This. This is what it means to be a woman. This is how I will feel every day for the rest of my life. Or, at least, on wedding days, when I am free to wrap myself in seven yards of ammunition.
Yousef presses his thumb into a dimple where Joy’s shoulder meet her back.
“What’s this?” he asks.
“I don’t know,” Joy says.
They don’t watch how a part him fits a part of her that may or may not be strange.
Joy is young, and so are we. Not yet familiar with other people’s shapes.
But there is one thing Joy now knows, a thing she will teach us all: that our bodies are unique in small but important ways, ways that will put us in charge of other people’s hearts.
That we are, each of us, a collection of secrets waiting to be told.
April 15, 2019
I just could not get into this one. I liked the setting but found that both the plot and the characters were lacking. I kept waiting for something, an exciting event or to fall in love with a character but it just didn’t get there for me.
February 20, 2021
This was such a wonderful story. We dipped into each girl's life, and into the lives of the mothers and even one grandmother, along with the school headmistress. There was so much love here--love, determination, imagination, friendship.
It's unlikely that you could collect a group of girls like these ones and peek into their lives and have all of them be supported in the ways that these ones are--to have no one whose story was tragic or miserable--but you know what? There are PLENTY of books that tell you that sort of story. This was a collection of stories of girls finding their way forward, of stories where the trans girl's mother *loves* her as a girl, where the girl who's been pulled out of school to be married ends up with a boy who adores her and whom she's going to adore too, where the girl with the mentally ill mother cares for her carefully and patiently. ... And where the clueless American photographer can be leveraged in a very useful way--but it's the girls themselves who figure out that way.
And the writing was just beautiful. If you check my reading notes, you'll see some marvels. This was a book group book, but I'm going to buy it to keep.
It's unlikely that you could collect a group of girls like these ones and peek into their lives and have all of them be supported in the ways that these ones are--to have no one whose story was tragic or miserable--but you know what? There are PLENTY of books that tell you that sort of story. This was a collection of stories of girls finding their way forward, of stories where the trans girl's mother *loves* her as a girl, where the girl who's been pulled out of school to be married ends up with a boy who adores her and whom she's going to adore too, where the girl with the mentally ill mother cares for her carefully and patiently. ... And where the clueless American photographer can be leveraged in a very useful way--but it's the girls themselves who figure out that way.
And the writing was just beautiful. If you check my reading notes, you'll see some marvels. This was a book group book, but I'm going to buy it to keep.
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August 20, 2023This book is wholesome & very important. Still, it felt more suitable for teenagers (maybe it was intended to be and I didn't know). I wish I had read it when I was 17. Loved the representation & how loving every character was <3
December 27, 2019
Charming and poignant novel set in BANGALORE
“In Bangalore, there is always someone worse off than you”
It was serendipity. I had made plans to travel to South India, arriving in Bangalore (which is also known as Bengaluru, take your pick) and I was asked to review a novel set there. Perfect timing.
The story is about 5 young girls who are living in Heaven, which it certainly isn’t. It is a slum just off the Old Airport Road, sandwiched between buildings that are flagships for enterprise and represent the burgeoning success of the Silicon Valley of India. Slums really don’t feature in that grand design.
Several generations of women are resisting the diggers who have come to flatten the tarps, the dwellings and the sheeting, home to so many people and the focus is on the five young ones who with grit and determination are standing up for their rights. Their story, as they develop and grow, is a universal one, very clearly set in India and written with humour. Yes, these women can manage without their menfolk – they have to and life is often tough for them. They battle for education, for autonomy as women, for rights… “Early on, we girls learn that life owes us nothing, that womanhood is a spectrum of nuisances, heartbreaks, and tragedies”
The particular delight for me was to explore the city – Vidhana Soudha (the parliament building), the Lal Bagh Botanical Gardens and Cubbon Park (it is called The Garden City for a reason!) – and whilst I was enjoying seeing the sights, the little figures of the characters in the book, to wit, Deepa, Banu, Padma, Rukshana and Joy all popped up in my imagination as I saw characters who could so easily have been them. Life on the street is ubiquitous. It is colourful, it is often very harsh. The characters’ quirkish ways, their observations of the city and their humour all fed my experience, making it an experiential 4-d visit.
“In Bangalore, there is always someone worse off than you”
It was serendipity. I had made plans to travel to South India, arriving in Bangalore (which is also known as Bengaluru, take your pick) and I was asked to review a novel set there. Perfect timing.
The story is about 5 young girls who are living in Heaven, which it certainly isn’t. It is a slum just off the Old Airport Road, sandwiched between buildings that are flagships for enterprise and represent the burgeoning success of the Silicon Valley of India. Slums really don’t feature in that grand design.
Several generations of women are resisting the diggers who have come to flatten the tarps, the dwellings and the sheeting, home to so many people and the focus is on the five young ones who with grit and determination are standing up for their rights. Their story, as they develop and grow, is a universal one, very clearly set in India and written with humour. Yes, these women can manage without their menfolk – they have to and life is often tough for them. They battle for education, for autonomy as women, for rights… “Early on, we girls learn that life owes us nothing, that womanhood is a spectrum of nuisances, heartbreaks, and tragedies”
The particular delight for me was to explore the city – Vidhana Soudha (the parliament building), the Lal Bagh Botanical Gardens and Cubbon Park (it is called The Garden City for a reason!) – and whilst I was enjoying seeing the sights, the little figures of the characters in the book, to wit, Deepa, Banu, Padma, Rukshana and Joy all popped up in my imagination as I saw characters who could so easily have been them. Life on the street is ubiquitous. It is colourful, it is often very harsh. The characters’ quirkish ways, their observations of the city and their humour all fed my experience, making it an experiential 4-d visit.
March 25, 2019
I so enjoy when a story drags me to where they want me to be as these five fearsome girls sneak their way into your heart. Raised in a Bangalore slum, each character gets to provide their backstory that centers around lives defined around by femaleness and class structure as they fight for their future, adventures, and just to be. The unnamed first person plural narrative voice showcases the ingenuity and solidarity of the characters in the unconditional acceptance of each other and each just want to live their best life.
This lithe tale while explore our humanity is as profound as it is entertaining.
Female power shines brightly.
This lithe tale while explore our humanity is as profound as it is entertaining.
Female power shines brightly.
October 27, 2019
And then there was Mathangi Subramanian’s A People’s History of Heaven, and it was not the book for me. About a group of girls growing up in a Bangalore slum called Heaven, the book explores each of their stories as an imminent government removal of the slum looms. This book was heavy handed. The author, a nonfiction writer and academic, took what was a heavily researched book with real interview subjects and tried to turn it into a novel, which left it distilled down to the most simplistic, stereotyped, and improbably cleaned up storylines. She tried to touch on all of the topics: spousal abuse, queerness, gender transition, religion, poverty, family secrets etc., but it read like a soap opera at best or a public service announcement at worst. This catastrophe of good intentions felt like it was written by a person who felt above and separate from her subjects, and who just didn’t get it enough to write a storyline I could buy. This story was a fly flitting from narrative to narrative, persistent certainly, but also incredibly irksome. Thank you @netgalley for the arc, opinions are my own.
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