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A Disobedient Girl
SHE LOVED FINE THINGS , AND SHE HAD NO DOUBT THAT SHE DESERVED THEM . . . .
Young Latha knows that she was not meant to be a servant. She was born for finer things, like the rose-smelling soap she steals from the family she has worked for since she was five, or the glasses of fresh lime juice she helps herself to after a long day. But the hard truth is that her life is tied to Thara, the family’s spoiled daughter, and for the next thirty years they grow up bound by love, betrayal, resentment, and an impossible secret.
Then there is Biso, a devoted mother of three, who risks everything to escape from her tyrannical husband. Though her journey begins with hope, she navigates a disastrous path that ultimately binds her story to Latha and Thara’s in the most unexpected and heartbreaking way.
Set against the volatile backdrop of class and prejudice in Sri Lanka, A Disobedient Girl is a bold and deeply moving tale about the will to survive and the incredible power of the human spirit to transcend the unforgiving sweep of tragedy.
Young Latha knows that she was not meant to be a servant. She was born for finer things, like the rose-smelling soap she steals from the family she has worked for since she was five, or the glasses of fresh lime juice she helps herself to after a long day. But the hard truth is that her life is tied to Thara, the family’s spoiled daughter, and for the next thirty years they grow up bound by love, betrayal, resentment, and an impossible secret.
Then there is Biso, a devoted mother of three, who risks everything to escape from her tyrannical husband. Though her journey begins with hope, she navigates a disastrous path that ultimately binds her story to Latha and Thara’s in the most unexpected and heartbreaking way.
Set against the volatile backdrop of class and prejudice in Sri Lanka, A Disobedient Girl is a bold and deeply moving tale about the will to survive and the incredible power of the human spirit to transcend the unforgiving sweep of tragedy.
374 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
43 people are currently reading
3330 people want to read
About the author
Ru Freeman
15 books82 followersRu Freeman (b. 1967) is a Sri Lankan born writer and activist whose creative and political work has appeared internationally.
She is the author of the novels A Disobedient Girl (Atria/Simon & Schuster, 2009), and On Sal Mal Lane (Graywolf Press), a NYT Editor’s Choice Book. Both novels have been translated into multiple languages including Italian, French, Turkish, Dutch, and Chinese.
She is editor of the anthology, Extraordinary Rendition: (American) Writers on Palestine (OR Books, 2015), a collection of the voices of 65 American poets and writers speaking about America’s dis/engagement with Palestine.
Freeman holds a graduate degree in labor studies, researching female migrant labor in the countries of Kuwait, the U.A.E, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and has worked at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC, in the South Asia office of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL/CIO), and the American Friends Service Committee in their humanitarian and disaster relief programs.
She is a contributing editorial board member of the Asian American Literary Review, and a fellow of the Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference, Yaddo, Hedgebrook, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She is the 2014 winner of the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize for Fiction by an American Woman.
Freeman writes for the Huffington Post on books and politics.
She is the author of the novels A Disobedient Girl (Atria/Simon & Schuster, 2009), and On Sal Mal Lane (Graywolf Press), a NYT Editor’s Choice Book. Both novels have been translated into multiple languages including Italian, French, Turkish, Dutch, and Chinese.
She is editor of the anthology, Extraordinary Rendition: (American) Writers on Palestine (OR Books, 2015), a collection of the voices of 65 American poets and writers speaking about America’s dis/engagement with Palestine.
Freeman holds a graduate degree in labor studies, researching female migrant labor in the countries of Kuwait, the U.A.E, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and has worked at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC, in the South Asia office of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL/CIO), and the American Friends Service Committee in their humanitarian and disaster relief programs.
She is a contributing editorial board member of the Asian American Literary Review, and a fellow of the Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference, Yaddo, Hedgebrook, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She is the 2014 winner of the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize for Fiction by an American Woman.
Freeman writes for the Huffington Post on books and politics.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 165 reviews
February 17, 2025
What a heartwrenching book....Ru does not let you go easy... she layers the sorrow, the fear, the loss, she makes you feel her characters... she makes them stay with you and all their misfortunes, their determination, their hope, their need to be human, respected, accepted... but also you fear their misfortune, how they seem to not be able to escape their sorry fates however much they want to...
September 7, 2016
These women creep up on you. The book seems to be plodding along, and the next thing you know you're completely absorbed in the physical and emotional minutiae of the every day lives of the characters. And then suddenly it's not minutiae anymore, but full blown drama. And although you're left wondering for a very long time how the two stories are connected ... that realization creeps up on you too.
April 25, 2011
This is a good read once it picks up, which it really doesn't until half way through the book. This is a paralell book with alternating chapters toggling between the past and the present. A story about a young woman named Latha in the country of Sri Lanka. The past chapters are titled "Biso", who we find out almost half way through the book is the present "Latha's" mother. It's the story of how Latha came to be in her present situation, a house servant begining at the age of five. The book is titled "A Disobedient Girl" but by the end of the book having received the full weight of the story I feel sad for Latha, her family and her rag tag invented family by the end of the book. She was only disobedient to the people who felt they needed to have control over her being that they had no control over themselves. Latha, and all the characters in this book come to think of it, are examples of victims of their environmental circumstance. I found this book had a great degree of relatable sadness. The feelings one sometimes reads to escape the reader is forced to face. I believe the author does a great job at causing the reader to get emotionally involved and feel vs observe the content from a distance. Besides the fact that it started very slow (the reader almost unclear about a lot of things until the middle of the book)this is a good book with lots of topics for discussion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 17, 2016
2.5 stars. The writing was good enough, but I found the story progression difficult. By that I mean I didn't like the way the last 1/3 or more of the book went. Also, I feel like the author made the book really authentic with all of the Indian language, but unfortunately I couldn't understand it. I got really confused with the characters having 2,3, & 4 different names/nicknames/ways of referring to one another. I also find it kind of hard to believe that a mother as supposedly as good and nurturing as Biso would do what she did without much fight in the end. If all that happened was really happening in a matter of hours, would she really be driven to do what she did so quickly? I don't think so.
March 27, 2015
Freeman's imagery is breathtaking; I fell in love with this book two minutes in. Her narrative and characters are compelling and dynamic. Universal themes and heartbreaking commentary on life as a woman are brought to life in every scene. I adored every minute and strongly recommend the audio book narrated by Anne Flosnik.
June 1, 2009
This novel tells the story of Latha and Biso in alternating chapters. It begins with Latha as an unloved little girl, rationalizing her stealing of soap from her employers in order to maintain the hygeine habits of the rich. Latha works as a servant and desires the luxuries that her employers, the Vithanages, are accustomed to but deny the servants. Biso is a young mother in Matara, a fishing village in South Sri Lanka, who has decided to leave her alcoholic, abusive husband and flee to her family in the hills. The Biso chapters catalog her reasons for leaving her husband, her train journey, and the people she met along the way. Latha and Biso are not obviously connected for most of the novel (except for some characters that Latha knew and who met Biso while on the train), but each desire independence and self-determination. Latha, seeks to be independent from the dictates of class - particularly her role as a servant and the biases that come along with that status. Biso wants to be free from the husband she did not choose and live her life free from his abuse and lack of love. Latha and Biso are both impulsive and encounter significant mishaps along the way.
Latha's story takes place from the early 1980s to the late 1990s, moving at a fast pass, with years passing between chapters. Biso's story takes place over a four day period in the early 1980s during her trip from coastal Matara to the hills. The author does not disclose dates, but historical events serve as guides. My familiarity with Sri Lankan politics and history helped me settle some dates, but readers without that familiarity should be able to use mentions of Princess Diana as a rough guide of dates.
I found the shifts from Biso to Latha to be jarring. I was never confused about whose chapter it was, as they were clearly labeled. However, the structure lacked a certain symmetry that I am used to seeing when books shift narrator. The Biso chapters were written in the first person, whereas the Latha chapters were third person. Even though the Biso chapters historically antedated the Latha chapters, the Biso chapters are written in the present tense and the Latha chapters are in the past tense. Lastly, as I noted earlier, the pace of the Latha chapters is much faster, as they cover approximately two decades while the Biso chapters cover a short time period - in essense it felt like I was reading about every single hour in those four days, which felt tedious at times. I found this asymmetry to be troublesome, particularly in the beginning of the novel. This is the main reason I have rated the novel 4 stars rather than 5. Although I personally did not care for the approach, the author probably chose this course to conceal a plot twist at the end of the novel.
Overall, the novel is beautifully written albeit heavy handed at times. The novel has a wonderful sense of place, estabilishing the location quite well. The novel does a great job particularly with Latha, describing her frustration with being "invisible" due to her role of servant and her inability to have a regular life. Of course, part of that might be Latha's own making due to mistakes she makes that inhibit the likelihood of her finding a husband and family. Latha never seems to learn from her mistakes, which was frustrating for me. Nonetheless, Latha is a sympathetic character because, as her master-servant role evolves with her one-time playmate and current employer, Thara Vithanage, it is apparent that she is truly alone. The ending seems inevitable but I could not help rooting for Latha in the end to get it right and establish her own life.
Biso shared Latha's penchant towards bad decisions and morphed from a self-assured woman who seemed capable of making it on her own into a "train wreck." The end of the Biso story was predictable (I don't want to spoil the ending but it was foreshadowed numerous times and by the time I got to the second to last Biso chapter, there was only one way it would likely end) and disappointing.
Despite these shortcomings, the novel was good. It was a bit melodramatic, which is a common fault for South Asian fiction. However, the characters were interesting - especially Latha - and her characterization of the master-servant relationship in South Asia was spot on. [This is an especially good choice for readers who liked "The Space Between Us," by Thrity Umrigar.:]
** Reviewed for Amazon Vine.
Latha's story takes place from the early 1980s to the late 1990s, moving at a fast pass, with years passing between chapters. Biso's story takes place over a four day period in the early 1980s during her trip from coastal Matara to the hills. The author does not disclose dates, but historical events serve as guides. My familiarity with Sri Lankan politics and history helped me settle some dates, but readers without that familiarity should be able to use mentions of Princess Diana as a rough guide of dates.
I found the shifts from Biso to Latha to be jarring. I was never confused about whose chapter it was, as they were clearly labeled. However, the structure lacked a certain symmetry that I am used to seeing when books shift narrator. The Biso chapters were written in the first person, whereas the Latha chapters were third person. Even though the Biso chapters historically antedated the Latha chapters, the Biso chapters are written in the present tense and the Latha chapters are in the past tense. Lastly, as I noted earlier, the pace of the Latha chapters is much faster, as they cover approximately two decades while the Biso chapters cover a short time period - in essense it felt like I was reading about every single hour in those four days, which felt tedious at times. I found this asymmetry to be troublesome, particularly in the beginning of the novel. This is the main reason I have rated the novel 4 stars rather than 5. Although I personally did not care for the approach, the author probably chose this course to conceal a plot twist at the end of the novel.
Overall, the novel is beautifully written albeit heavy handed at times. The novel has a wonderful sense of place, estabilishing the location quite well. The novel does a great job particularly with Latha, describing her frustration with being "invisible" due to her role of servant and her inability to have a regular life. Of course, part of that might be Latha's own making due to mistakes she makes that inhibit the likelihood of her finding a husband and family. Latha never seems to learn from her mistakes, which was frustrating for me. Nonetheless, Latha is a sympathetic character because, as her master-servant role evolves with her one-time playmate and current employer, Thara Vithanage, it is apparent that she is truly alone. The ending seems inevitable but I could not help rooting for Latha in the end to get it right and establish her own life.
Biso shared Latha's penchant towards bad decisions and morphed from a self-assured woman who seemed capable of making it on her own into a "train wreck." The end of the Biso story was predictable (I don't want to spoil the ending but it was foreshadowed numerous times and by the time I got to the second to last Biso chapter, there was only one way it would likely end) and disappointing.
Despite these shortcomings, the novel was good. It was a bit melodramatic, which is a common fault for South Asian fiction. However, the characters were interesting - especially Latha - and her characterization of the master-servant relationship in South Asia was spot on. [This is an especially good choice for readers who liked "The Space Between Us," by Thrity Umrigar.:]
** Reviewed for Amazon Vine.
September 24, 2009
Sri Lanka is located in South East Asia, an island country just south of India. It is a beautiful country that has been mired in conflict for over 40 years. Cultural and religious differences are at the forefront of the civil unrest and terrorist acts by extremists. Ru Freeman's novel, A Disobedient Girl, is set during these tumultuous times. Biso is the mother of three young children. In the early morning hours, she prepares her children for travel. After years of abuse, she has finally decided to leave her husband. They travel by train to the north, hoping to take refuge with Biso's mother's sister. The long train ride allows Biso time to reflect on her life, about her affair with the love of her life, his death at her husband's hands and the continuing abuse she suffered. Her children are her life, especially her youngest, the product of her affair.
This is also Latha's story. Latha works as a servant for the Vithanages, a wealthy family in Colombo. She and the daughter of the house, Thara, become friends although Latha is never allowed to forget her lower status. Latha has never taken easily to her role as servant. She feels she deserves better in life and often lands in trouble for going after what she wants. Her choices in life are not always the wisest, and, while still a teen, she becomes pregnant by her friend and mistress' love interest.
Biso's story is told over the course of a few days in first person; while Latha's is in third person and spans many years. It is an interesting technique that the author balances well as she alternates between characters with each chapter. The stories of the two women are connected in such a way that makes the ending all the more bittersweet.
I was drawn to both stories equally. Both Latha and Biso are flawed characters and strong women. My heart instantly went out to Biso and her children. While I may not approve of extramarital affairs, I do understand on some level why and how they come about. It becomes more complicated when cultural issues are thrown into the mix. Biso had lost her own mother at a young age and was married to a man not of her choosing. That marriage quickly became a violent one. Biso longed for love and to feel wanted. She found that in Siri. All that ended when he died, and Biso had to begin making other choices.
It took longer for me to warm to Latha. Latha is a passionate character. As the novel opens, she is young and naive and often impulsive. She carries with her a sense of entitlement and does not seem to know her place. The treatment of child servants was appalling and a part of me cheered for Latha for knowing she deserved better even while knowing her life would have been easier had she played along like the good little servant girl. I have read several other reviews that berate the fact that that Latha does not evolve as a character over the course of the novel. She never does seem to fully take responsibility for her actions, always seeming to lay the blame at others' feet. At the same time, I think she did grow as a character in other ways, eventually coming into her own.
Ru Freeman captured the hearts of her characters and the country about which she wrote. Through her characters, readers get a feel for the political unrest, the caste and class struggles, and the inner turmoil and sacrifices of both Latha and Biso. It took me about 76 pages or so to really get into A Disobedient Girl and while I wanted to shake the characters at times for the decisions they made, I enjoyed it just the same.
This is also Latha's story. Latha works as a servant for the Vithanages, a wealthy family in Colombo. She and the daughter of the house, Thara, become friends although Latha is never allowed to forget her lower status. Latha has never taken easily to her role as servant. She feels she deserves better in life and often lands in trouble for going after what she wants. Her choices in life are not always the wisest, and, while still a teen, she becomes pregnant by her friend and mistress' love interest.
Biso's story is told over the course of a few days in first person; while Latha's is in third person and spans many years. It is an interesting technique that the author balances well as she alternates between characters with each chapter. The stories of the two women are connected in such a way that makes the ending all the more bittersweet.
I was drawn to both stories equally. Both Latha and Biso are flawed characters and strong women. My heart instantly went out to Biso and her children. While I may not approve of extramarital affairs, I do understand on some level why and how they come about. It becomes more complicated when cultural issues are thrown into the mix. Biso had lost her own mother at a young age and was married to a man not of her choosing. That marriage quickly became a violent one. Biso longed for love and to feel wanted. She found that in Siri. All that ended when he died, and Biso had to begin making other choices.
It took longer for me to warm to Latha. Latha is a passionate character. As the novel opens, she is young and naive and often impulsive. She carries with her a sense of entitlement and does not seem to know her place. The treatment of child servants was appalling and a part of me cheered for Latha for knowing she deserved better even while knowing her life would have been easier had she played along like the good little servant girl. I have read several other reviews that berate the fact that that Latha does not evolve as a character over the course of the novel. She never does seem to fully take responsibility for her actions, always seeming to lay the blame at others' feet. At the same time, I think she did grow as a character in other ways, eventually coming into her own.
Ru Freeman captured the hearts of her characters and the country about which she wrote. Through her characters, readers get a feel for the political unrest, the caste and class struggles, and the inner turmoil and sacrifices of both Latha and Biso. It took me about 76 pages or so to really get into A Disobedient Girl and while I wanted to shake the characters at times for the decisions they made, I enjoyed it just the same.
January 5, 2014
The writing style, which was circuitous and poetic, was not for me. It took me several chapters to get into the story. The storyline was not bad and the depiction of life in Sri Lanka was interesting even though the writing style made it difficult to enjoy.
November 24, 2010
Latha is a servant girl for the well to do Vithanage family. Being close in age to their only child, Thara, she forms a friendship and a quasi sisterhood that she naively believes endows her with some sense of equality. Sadly, she learns over time that Thara is the beloved daughter and she is just a servant and therefore not entitled to the wealth and privilege that Thara takes for granted. Through some poor decision making on her part(she is a child after all) she becomes pregnant by Thara's boyfriend/crush. She is banished to a convent where after her child is born, it is taken away by the nuns. She is then returned to her former masters, this time as a servant for Thara upon her marriage.
Biso is a mother of three running away from her abusive husband and the disappointment of her former life. Her story is told in alternating chapters with Latha's and we are never actually told the time frame for her unfolding story. Much of her story takes place on the train that she is taking away from her old life and through this journey we discover details of her life thus far. Her mother, though of a higher caste marries a lower caste man who treats her with love and respect. Unfortunately, Biso's mother dies when she is very young and her father sinks into grief from which he never seems to recover. Biso eventually gets married off to a man who turns out to be an alcoholic and very violent. Her affair with a local fisherman would leads to the birth of her youngest child but would bring even more unhappiness for her.
While some have complained that there were few sympathetic characters in this book especially Latha, I personally did not see that. While Latha certainly made many, many bad decisions, I saw her mistakes as occasioned by her particular circumstances. I think that at the bottom of all her pregnancies was the desire to be seen as just another woman, capable of inspiring the love and respect of a man and not just a servant who her society sees as only deserving of its dregs. Unfortunately for her she continues to discover that the men she chooses all present one facade until there is a hitch in the road and then she is discarded. Latha is seen as a disobedient girl because she will not yield to society's status quo and be content with her lot in life but continues to push in subtle and quiet ways for what she sees as her right to live as she chooses. But she is a servant and what would be excused in a rich higher caste woman will never be forgiven of a servant.
Biso also discovers that her dreams of freedom are laced with many obstacles. She may have escaped her husband but can she escape her larger society that sees her as just a poor woman and therefore subject to its disdain and disregard?
While I mostly liked this book, there were some things about it that left me wanting. Despite being only 374 pages, the book somehow comes off as too long. I think that this is because as beautiful and descriptive as the language was, some of the descriptiveness got tiresome after awhile. The middle sections of the book somehow managed to be boring while still conveying parts of the story that would prove integral to the plot. Also there are political rumblings constantly taking place in the background but we are never actually given a clear picture what these agitations are about. Unless you already have foreknowledge of Sri Lanka's political past and present, the mention of them seems to lack its full impact. But the last fifty pages or so got very interesting and I found myself again engrossed as I had been at the outset of the book. A very interesting and sad read about the lives of servants in modern day Sri Lanka.
*Review copy received from Amazon.Com's Vine Program.
Biso is a mother of three running away from her abusive husband and the disappointment of her former life. Her story is told in alternating chapters with Latha's and we are never actually told the time frame for her unfolding story. Much of her story takes place on the train that she is taking away from her old life and through this journey we discover details of her life thus far. Her mother, though of a higher caste marries a lower caste man who treats her with love and respect. Unfortunately, Biso's mother dies when she is very young and her father sinks into grief from which he never seems to recover. Biso eventually gets married off to a man who turns out to be an alcoholic and very violent. Her affair with a local fisherman would leads to the birth of her youngest child but would bring even more unhappiness for her.
While some have complained that there were few sympathetic characters in this book especially Latha, I personally did not see that. While Latha certainly made many, many bad decisions, I saw her mistakes as occasioned by her particular circumstances. I think that at the bottom of all her pregnancies was the desire to be seen as just another woman, capable of inspiring the love and respect of a man and not just a servant who her society sees as only deserving of its dregs. Unfortunately for her she continues to discover that the men she chooses all present one facade until there is a hitch in the road and then she is discarded. Latha is seen as a disobedient girl because she will not yield to society's status quo and be content with her lot in life but continues to push in subtle and quiet ways for what she sees as her right to live as she chooses. But she is a servant and what would be excused in a rich higher caste woman will never be forgiven of a servant.
Biso also discovers that her dreams of freedom are laced with many obstacles. She may have escaped her husband but can she escape her larger society that sees her as just a poor woman and therefore subject to its disdain and disregard?
While I mostly liked this book, there were some things about it that left me wanting. Despite being only 374 pages, the book somehow comes off as too long. I think that this is because as beautiful and descriptive as the language was, some of the descriptiveness got tiresome after awhile. The middle sections of the book somehow managed to be boring while still conveying parts of the story that would prove integral to the plot. Also there are political rumblings constantly taking place in the background but we are never actually given a clear picture what these agitations are about. Unless you already have foreknowledge of Sri Lanka's political past and present, the mention of them seems to lack its full impact. But the last fifty pages or so got very interesting and I found myself again engrossed as I had been at the outset of the book. A very interesting and sad read about the lives of servants in modern day Sri Lanka.
*Review copy received from Amazon.Com's Vine Program.
June 18, 2009
A Disobedient Girl; by Ru Freeman is an ambitious debut novel set in Sri Lanka with a theme of class and servitude. The story is told in alternating chapters about two central female characters. Latha is a young servant girl to a wealthy family that includes Thara, a girl about the same age as Latha.
Latha longs for the finer things in life and believes she was meant to have more in life than bathing at the well. She steals a bar of fine rose soap and sneaks off to bathe, using the soap belonging to the rich people she serves. She justifies this by telling herself how important hygiene is.
The other central character is Biso a mother with three children who eventually flees from her abusive situation. It is unclear through most of the novel how Biso and Latha's story will intersect, yet the reader can sense it surely will. Even though the stories are told in alternating chapters Latha's story takes place in the early 1980's into the early 1990's while Bios' story takes place over a period of just about four days. To say too much more would lead to spoilers so let me just give you my thoughts.
I loved the writing and the setting was vividly portrayed as well. However, I found that the time frames seemed a bit confusing, and towards the end I was able to predict how the story might end. I also found both Latha and Biso unlikable, never really learning from their mistakes. In some ways this story reminded me of a favorite book of mine: The Space Between Us: A Novel (P.S.), as that story to was also one about the "haves and the have nots", however, in that particular story the characters more sympathetic, and for me that makes all the difference between a great book and a so so book.
I thought it was interesting to learn about how the author, Ru Freeman, got her inspiration for this book......she says, "My teacher, Lynn Freed, had given us an in-class assignment to write a paragraph, any paragraph, without thinking about anything specific. I wrote a paragraph about a woman standing in her doorway, her children somewhere off scene, watching her drunken husband make his way home through the mangrove swamps in a coastal town in Sri Lanka. At the end of the paragraph, she thinks about what she plans to do at dawn while he is still asleep. That paragraph turned into the first chapter of the book. It remains, largely untouched, as the first chapter of Biso's story".
Despite some of my reservations about the book, I recommend you try this one for yourself and see what you think.
3.5/5 stars
Latha longs for the finer things in life and believes she was meant to have more in life than bathing at the well. She steals a bar of fine rose soap and sneaks off to bathe, using the soap belonging to the rich people she serves. She justifies this by telling herself how important hygiene is.
The other central character is Biso a mother with three children who eventually flees from her abusive situation. It is unclear through most of the novel how Biso and Latha's story will intersect, yet the reader can sense it surely will. Even though the stories are told in alternating chapters Latha's story takes place in the early 1980's into the early 1990's while Bios' story takes place over a period of just about four days. To say too much more would lead to spoilers so let me just give you my thoughts.
I loved the writing and the setting was vividly portrayed as well. However, I found that the time frames seemed a bit confusing, and towards the end I was able to predict how the story might end. I also found both Latha and Biso unlikable, never really learning from their mistakes. In some ways this story reminded me of a favorite book of mine: The Space Between Us: A Novel (P.S.), as that story to was also one about the "haves and the have nots", however, in that particular story the characters more sympathetic, and for me that makes all the difference between a great book and a so so book.
I thought it was interesting to learn about how the author, Ru Freeman, got her inspiration for this book......she says, "My teacher, Lynn Freed, had given us an in-class assignment to write a paragraph, any paragraph, without thinking about anything specific. I wrote a paragraph about a woman standing in her doorway, her children somewhere off scene, watching her drunken husband make his way home through the mangrove swamps in a coastal town in Sri Lanka. At the end of the paragraph, she thinks about what she plans to do at dawn while he is still asleep. That paragraph turned into the first chapter of the book. It remains, largely untouched, as the first chapter of Biso's story".
Despite some of my reservations about the book, I recommend you try this one for yourself and see what you think.
3.5/5 stars
March 23, 2010
Ru Freeman’s gorgeous debut novel A Disobedient Girl opens with eleven-year-old Latha enjoying her daily indulgence—an afternoon wash at the well using a rose-scented soap. The soap is a symbol of status and she has stolen it from the Vithanages, a family raising her to be a servant for Thara, their same-age daughter. As they grow, the two young girls become as close as sisters, but the years pass and Latha’s duties to Thara increase; she begins to bristle in her role as servant. When she and Thara flirt with a pair of local boys, Ajith and Gehan, the obvious class disparities rise to the surface and Latha fumes with resentment. Thara proclaims Ajith her ideal mate and Latha comes to care for Gehan, a gentle, lower-caste boy who obviously cares for her. But the course of love (as they say) never runs smoothly and the romantic lives of Latha and Thara are no exception. A simple desire to show that she is more than just a servant girl, and to be rewarded for her years of service, sets Latha on a path that will affect the lives of everyone she touches.
Throughout the novel, Latha and Thara’s story parallels that of Biso, a young mother of three who flees an abusive husband as well as a scandal in her small village that she helped to create. How these two stories will intersect is unclear for much of the book, but the author’s steady hand and gorgeous prose lead us along with full confidence that they will eventually come together. A pair of gold earrings, a red sports car, and a series of mysterious explosions give us tantalizing glimpses along the way, but things are never quite what they seem. And the life-changing secrets that bind these women together are the very secrets that later tear their lives apart. Moving with the characters through love-lost and love-gained, through surprise insights and tragic misunderstandings, the reader is enticed forward to a thrilling denouement that is the perfect combination of shock and sudden understanding. Days later, I’m still savoring the bittersweet longing delivered by the exquisitely resonant final chapter.
In fact, it's hard to express how much I loved this book, how solidly the characters have stayed with me, become a part of me. It is beautifully written, and as a writer myself I found that I even had to put the book down for a few weeks and take a little time to get over my dreadful author's envy. So glad I did go back to it--it rewarded even beyond my (already high) expectations.
Throughout the novel, Latha and Thara’s story parallels that of Biso, a young mother of three who flees an abusive husband as well as a scandal in her small village that she helped to create. How these two stories will intersect is unclear for much of the book, but the author’s steady hand and gorgeous prose lead us along with full confidence that they will eventually come together. A pair of gold earrings, a red sports car, and a series of mysterious explosions give us tantalizing glimpses along the way, but things are never quite what they seem. And the life-changing secrets that bind these women together are the very secrets that later tear their lives apart. Moving with the characters through love-lost and love-gained, through surprise insights and tragic misunderstandings, the reader is enticed forward to a thrilling denouement that is the perfect combination of shock and sudden understanding. Days later, I’m still savoring the bittersweet longing delivered by the exquisitely resonant final chapter.
In fact, it's hard to express how much I loved this book, how solidly the characters have stayed with me, become a part of me. It is beautifully written, and as a writer myself I found that I even had to put the book down for a few weeks and take a little time to get over my dreadful author's envy. So glad I did go back to it--it rewarded even beyond my (already high) expectations.
December 5, 2009
Despite my Sri Lankan friend informing me that there were notable inaccuracies in this book, I liked it very much. The chapters alternate between Latha's story, told in third person, and Biso's story, told in first person, which took a little getting used to. I had no idea how the two stories connected until neat the end, and I found the end gripping - in fact, it was more of a three star book for me until the last chapters.
What I liked best about this book was Latha's consistent attitude toward her life - from beginning to end, from the time she is 10 years old, she has a clear sense of her self worth, even though she is a servant at the mercy of her employers. She is treated poorly, but she refuses to accept that she deserves it.
What I liked best about this book was Latha's consistent attitude toward her life - from beginning to end, from the time she is 10 years old, she has a clear sense of her self worth, even though she is a servant at the mercy of her employers. She is treated poorly, but she refuses to accept that she deserves it.
October 27, 2013
Very difficult book to read. We follow two women whose lives are destroyed in their desires to be loved. VERY slow read until the last 42 pages and then it goes by with lightening speed as it's revealed that these two womens' lives are entangled. The outcome is sad and without closure. Not sure I'd recommend as it's too slow and a tad confusing through the bulk of the book.
April 2, 2020
I found this book to be absolutely fascinating, but it was also sad. I cried. I guess that says a lot about effective it is.
July 17, 2009
Latha is a servant girl to a rich high-caste family, the Vithanage's, living in Sri Lanka's largest city of Colombo. Brought to live and work for the family when she was about five years old, Latha resists the servile and humble expectations placed on her, enjoying instead her friendship with the Vithangage's daughter Thara and small luxuries like the Pear's soap she steals from them for her own use.
When she's eleven years old, Thara sets her sights on young Ajith, a high-caste boy from a wealthy family that lives nearby. Latha forms a friendship with Ajith's ordinary-looking and slightly lower-caste friend, Gehan, and the two of them have an understanding about the future which Latha destroys when, in a fit of spite, she seduces Ajith and after a long-running secret affair, becomes pregnant.
Interwoven with Latha's story, which follows her through her adolescence and into adulthood, is the agonising story of an older woman and mother of three, Biso. In finally summoning up the courage to leave her abusive husband, she takes her three very young children on a long cross-country trek by train to her aunt's house, without any clear certainty that her aunt will be happy to see them.
As the dual stories unfold, with Latha's moving swiftly into the future, sometimes jumping ahead by months or years while Biso's takes place over a mere three days, the connection between them is slowly, carefully revealed.
At first I was thrown by the time difference - I was expecting Latha's story to be the one that needed to catch up to Biso's, so slowly did the latter's move, but no - Biso's story happens about eleven years before Latha's pregnancy. Once I got over my disorientation from that, I settled into the rhythm and let the story reveal itself.
Neither story is a happy one, but hope abounds in both. There is a strong sense of 'nowness' in Biso's story, told as it is in first-person present-tense, an unusual choice but one that grounds it and adds a feeling of forbidding, ominous anticipation. There is so much prejudice and judgement in her story, from others and from her, and her children are so young and vulnerable, that you just know nothing good can happen.
Latha is a different kind of person from Biso, more strong-willed and independent, performing little acts of defiance wherever and whenever she can, yet at times her story is infinitely sad as well. The novel, the prose, works best when it is 'showing', though with it comes feelings of impotent anger. There's a solidity to Latha's story, told in third-person past tense, that makes hers the safer story.
It's a relatively quiet book, the country clearly outlined but not well coloured-in, the political turbulence merely hinted at with no definitive time period laid out. It covers the 70s, 80s and 90s, but beyond that it is hard to pinpoint. There's some social commentary, most of it subtle and between-the-lines, and it throws an ironic light on the caste system and the plight of servants, as well as the arrogance of foreigners. Read for this, it can be insightful and enjoyable.
Yet, in many respects I was disappointed by getting only small bits and pieces of Sri Lanka and its culture - Freeman's powers of description just weren't satisfying. I also found it a slow read: it's not until the end that things really happen and come to a head. It also wasn't until the end that I really came to care for either Latha or Biso, and I certainly never liked any of the other characters.
It's an interesting story, at times an upsetting and emotionally involved one, but it was never truly satisfying.
When she's eleven years old, Thara sets her sights on young Ajith, a high-caste boy from a wealthy family that lives nearby. Latha forms a friendship with Ajith's ordinary-looking and slightly lower-caste friend, Gehan, and the two of them have an understanding about the future which Latha destroys when, in a fit of spite, she seduces Ajith and after a long-running secret affair, becomes pregnant.
Interwoven with Latha's story, which follows her through her adolescence and into adulthood, is the agonising story of an older woman and mother of three, Biso. In finally summoning up the courage to leave her abusive husband, she takes her three very young children on a long cross-country trek by train to her aunt's house, without any clear certainty that her aunt will be happy to see them.
As the dual stories unfold, with Latha's moving swiftly into the future, sometimes jumping ahead by months or years while Biso's takes place over a mere three days, the connection between them is slowly, carefully revealed.
At first I was thrown by the time difference - I was expecting Latha's story to be the one that needed to catch up to Biso's, so slowly did the latter's move, but no - Biso's story happens about eleven years before Latha's pregnancy. Once I got over my disorientation from that, I settled into the rhythm and let the story reveal itself.
Neither story is a happy one, but hope abounds in both. There is a strong sense of 'nowness' in Biso's story, told as it is in first-person present-tense, an unusual choice but one that grounds it and adds a feeling of forbidding, ominous anticipation. There is so much prejudice and judgement in her story, from others and from her, and her children are so young and vulnerable, that you just know nothing good can happen.
Latha is a different kind of person from Biso, more strong-willed and independent, performing little acts of defiance wherever and whenever she can, yet at times her story is infinitely sad as well. The novel, the prose, works best when it is 'showing', though with it comes feelings of impotent anger. There's a solidity to Latha's story, told in third-person past tense, that makes hers the safer story.
It's a relatively quiet book, the country clearly outlined but not well coloured-in, the political turbulence merely hinted at with no definitive time period laid out. It covers the 70s, 80s and 90s, but beyond that it is hard to pinpoint. There's some social commentary, most of it subtle and between-the-lines, and it throws an ironic light on the caste system and the plight of servants, as well as the arrogance of foreigners. Read for this, it can be insightful and enjoyable.
Yet, in many respects I was disappointed by getting only small bits and pieces of Sri Lanka and its culture - Freeman's powers of description just weren't satisfying. I also found it a slow read: it's not until the end that things really happen and come to a head. It also wasn't until the end that I really came to care for either Latha or Biso, and I certainly never liked any of the other characters.
It's an interesting story, at times an upsetting and emotionally involved one, but it was never truly satisfying.
July 3, 2013
I don't think I will ever recover from reading this book. I've never read a novel that had as many tragic female heroines as Ru Freeman's "A Disobedient Girl".
The story alternates between the lives of two Sri Lankan women, one being the young mother, Biso, and the other, Latha, a servant girl who wishes to be more than that.
Biso is running away with her three young children from an abusive husband. We learn that her youngest daughter is also a product of an affair that Biso had with a fellow villager, Suri, who was the love of her life. Suri was murdered by Biso's volatile husband, and this is one in many factors that leads to Biso's leaving of him. She decides to head up-country to her mother's sister's house, where she hopes that she and young ones will be welcomed. But she does not know that this journey will be wrought with tragedy and hard-learned lessons.
Running alongside Biso's story, is the story of Latha, who we meet as a young servant girl in the home of the Vithanages. She is the same as the their daughter, Thara, and growing up they are very close friends. But Vithanages treat Latha like she is an object mean to slave for them, and Latha secretly despises them and their privilege. After discovering that the Vithanages have not been paying her for the years of work she has committed to them, and among other slights, she indulges in a betrayal that will haunt her for the rest of her life.
"A Disobedient Girl" deals heavily with the status of women in Sri Lankan - Sinhalese culture. It was interesting reading about their views on promiscuity, adultery, and social status. It was a little heart breaking at times seeing that regardless of what the main characters did, one of these things would always follow and affect their journey negatively.
When compared, I actually thought Latha's chapters were a bit more exciting to read, if only because her chapters had a lot more mobility going on. Most of Biso's storyline involved her sitting on a train and analyzing each of her children, with the exception of a few traumatic events.
This book also dealt with themes concerning wealth and privilege. One of the key things Ru Freeman seems to state is that the wealthy are careless, and have extreme disregard for those who serve them. This message rings true when applied to the relationship between Thara and Latha, the former only paying attention to Latha when it suits her own purposes.
I have to say that this book did surprise me in terms of plot. When reading Biso and Latha's story lines at first, you would think that the two weren't linked at all, but there is a reason why there perspectives are woven throughout the story. Their journeys are not only mirrored because of their tragedies, but because of the connection these women have between them.
All in all, I enjoyed reading this book very much. I was very satisfied with the ending, especially when Latha finally got herself out of the toxic situation she was in. This book was both liberating and sad for me.
The story alternates between the lives of two Sri Lankan women, one being the young mother, Biso, and the other, Latha, a servant girl who wishes to be more than that.
Biso is running away with her three young children from an abusive husband. We learn that her youngest daughter is also a product of an affair that Biso had with a fellow villager, Suri, who was the love of her life. Suri was murdered by Biso's volatile husband, and this is one in many factors that leads to Biso's leaving of him. She decides to head up-country to her mother's sister's house, where she hopes that she and young ones will be welcomed. But she does not know that this journey will be wrought with tragedy and hard-learned lessons.
Running alongside Biso's story, is the story of Latha, who we meet as a young servant girl in the home of the Vithanages. She is the same as the their daughter, Thara, and growing up they are very close friends. But Vithanages treat Latha like she is an object mean to slave for them, and Latha secretly despises them and their privilege. After discovering that the Vithanages have not been paying her for the years of work she has committed to them, and among other slights, she indulges in a betrayal that will haunt her for the rest of her life.
"A Disobedient Girl" deals heavily with the status of women in Sri Lankan - Sinhalese culture. It was interesting reading about their views on promiscuity, adultery, and social status. It was a little heart breaking at times seeing that regardless of what the main characters did, one of these things would always follow and affect their journey negatively.
When compared, I actually thought Latha's chapters were a bit more exciting to read, if only because her chapters had a lot more mobility going on. Most of Biso's storyline involved her sitting on a train and analyzing each of her children, with the exception of a few traumatic events.
This book also dealt with themes concerning wealth and privilege. One of the key things Ru Freeman seems to state is that the wealthy are careless, and have extreme disregard for those who serve them. This message rings true when applied to the relationship between Thara and Latha, the former only paying attention to Latha when it suits her own purposes.
I have to say that this book did surprise me in terms of plot. When reading Biso and Latha's story lines at first, you would think that the two weren't linked at all, but there is a reason why there perspectives are woven throughout the story. Their journeys are not only mirrored because of their tragedies, but because of the connection these women have between them.
All in all, I enjoyed reading this book very much. I was very satisfied with the ending, especially when Latha finally got herself out of the toxic situation she was in. This book was both liberating and sad for me.
September 16, 2009
Ru Freeman's A Disobedient Girl is set in Sri Lanka and is narrated by two women, Latha and Biso, in alternating chapters. Each of these women struggles with their station in society, the desires they have to improve their lot in life, and the journey they find themselves on after making pivotal decisions. Readers also catch a glimpse of Thara and Leela's lives and struggles.
"Earrings are not decorations. They are a statement of legitimacy, of dignity, of self-worth. Ask any woman, and she would tell you that she would pawn everything she has before she gave up her earrings. Even her wedding band. For what is a wedding band worth except to say that a man coveted your children and wanted to claim them for his own? A wedding band can come from any man, just like children. Earrings, a real pair of earrings, come only with love." (Page 121)
Sri Lanka is in the midst of civil unrest when we meet Biso for the first time, but when we meet Latha, she is in the prime of innocence. Biso has lived a hard life, though she is not jaded by the loss of her greatest love or the abuse of her husband. Latha, on the other hand, is resentful of her station as a servant girl in a high-class home and straddles precariously between the world of a upper class girl, like her mistress' daughter Thara, and that of a servant. Class struggles, political unrest, and danger permeate the pages of A Disobedient Girl.
"No, I had lain there, my arms around his dying body, the blood from his wounds flowing into me along with his passion, his body shuddering until there was nothing left except the blood that came over his body and included me in its embrace. I had stayed like that until he slipped out of me, and then I had stood. I had walked into the ocean and let the salt water wash my skin, the churning sands scrubbing my exterior of his blood even as the night air hardened my pain into a fist inside my chest." (Page 149)
The narration begins slowly and builds to a crescendo, though readers may have a tough time with the broken and interrupted thoughts because it can detract from the atmosphere that Freeman attempts to create. Latha's chapters reflect her naivete and her impulsive nature, while Biso's chapters reflect a mature woman who is methodical in her actions and chastises herself for self-indulgence when she must care for three children.
However, Freeman has a gift for dramatic language and situations, illustrating how each woman faces tragedy and overcomes the suppression they feel because of their caste and decisions. A Disobedient Girl is not about a specific girl or woman, but about the rebellious part of human nature that desires to be free and in control of its own destiny.
"Earrings are not decorations. They are a statement of legitimacy, of dignity, of self-worth. Ask any woman, and she would tell you that she would pawn everything she has before she gave up her earrings. Even her wedding band. For what is a wedding band worth except to say that a man coveted your children and wanted to claim them for his own? A wedding band can come from any man, just like children. Earrings, a real pair of earrings, come only with love." (Page 121)
Sri Lanka is in the midst of civil unrest when we meet Biso for the first time, but when we meet Latha, she is in the prime of innocence. Biso has lived a hard life, though she is not jaded by the loss of her greatest love or the abuse of her husband. Latha, on the other hand, is resentful of her station as a servant girl in a high-class home and straddles precariously between the world of a upper class girl, like her mistress' daughter Thara, and that of a servant. Class struggles, political unrest, and danger permeate the pages of A Disobedient Girl.
"No, I had lain there, my arms around his dying body, the blood from his wounds flowing into me along with his passion, his body shuddering until there was nothing left except the blood that came over his body and included me in its embrace. I had stayed like that until he slipped out of me, and then I had stood. I had walked into the ocean and let the salt water wash my skin, the churning sands scrubbing my exterior of his blood even as the night air hardened my pain into a fist inside my chest." (Page 149)
The narration begins slowly and builds to a crescendo, though readers may have a tough time with the broken and interrupted thoughts because it can detract from the atmosphere that Freeman attempts to create. Latha's chapters reflect her naivete and her impulsive nature, while Biso's chapters reflect a mature woman who is methodical in her actions and chastises herself for self-indulgence when she must care for three children.
However, Freeman has a gift for dramatic language and situations, illustrating how each woman faces tragedy and overcomes the suppression they feel because of their caste and decisions. A Disobedient Girl is not about a specific girl or woman, but about the rebellious part of human nature that desires to be free and in control of its own destiny.
April 26, 2016
Lots of looonnnnggg sentences like:
Most of the book has a tired, despairing, slightly depressed feel and I guessed how Latha and Biso's stories connected in the 3rd or 4th chapter.
I was getting ready to give up when something shocking happened so I kept reading but I wasn't even rewarded with a satisfying conclusion or partial explanation for that.
The school principal still insisted that they chant this every morning, and though there were rumors that he sympathized with the people who wore red and marched with banners embroidered with the sickle and hammer on May Day, and that his job was a front for spreading a doctrine that encouraged his students to think themselves equal to the rich, and though all of that was considered dangerous and subversive, his message and, frankly, his possibly clandestine life resonated with Latha.
Most of the book has a tired, despairing, slightly depressed feel and I guessed how Latha and Biso's stories connected in the 3rd or 4th chapter.
I was getting ready to give up when something shocking happened so I kept reading but I wasn't even rewarded with a satisfying conclusion or partial explanation for that.
November 25, 2012
This is my first SriLankan writer and I am impressed. The narrative technique used (alternating between two different timeline) is innovative and the language is lucid and lovely.
I am a fan of strong women characters who refuse to restrict themselves to societal norms and have the courage to follow what their heart desires, even if that means hurting themselves in the long run. Though I was all praise for Biso initially, her magic vanished when she kills herself and escapes from the trials that life throws at her. Latha captivated me with her sheer willpower to live even after being dumped into rut after rut.
Though the last few chapters and the climax were predictable, 'A Disobedient Girl' is still an uplifting read.
I am a fan of strong women characters who refuse to restrict themselves to societal norms and have the courage to follow what their heart desires, even if that means hurting themselves in the long run. Though I was all praise for Biso initially, her magic vanished when she kills herself and escapes from the trials that life throws at her. Latha captivated me with her sheer willpower to live even after being dumped into rut after rut.
Though the last few chapters and the climax were predictable, 'A Disobedient Girl' is still an uplifting read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 9, 2010
An incredibly moving book...the ending got me. I have to admit that for most of the book I was having a hard time getting into it - I liked the characters and was interested in their story, it just seemed slow moving, I wanted the characters to come together like the jacket promises. And come together they do, at the end...only after reading it do I realize why the author had to do it that way.
I loved Latha (servant girl), was irritated by Thara (Latha's friend and later her master), hated Mrs Vithanage. I cried for Biso, could feel and understand her desperation and felt most connected to her because of my own personal situation right now.
I loved Latha (servant girl), was irritated by Thara (Latha's friend and later her master), hated Mrs Vithanage. I cried for Biso, could feel and understand her desperation and felt most connected to her because of my own personal situation right now.
June 14, 2014
Its a superb read. Ru freeman is not a writer, she is a painter who uses vivid imagery for the landscape and a touching simplicity for the characters. The characters are so alive, that you weep with them and want to cry out for their helplessness.
The story is set against the political upheavals in Sri Lanka. The story follows the daily lives of middle class families as parallel tales which culminate in the last chapter. The reader is overwhelmed in the end, but still yearns for more. I wouldn't mind, if Freeman plans a sequel to this one to tie up the loose ends.
The story is set against the political upheavals in Sri Lanka. The story follows the daily lives of middle class families as parallel tales which culminate in the last chapter. The reader is overwhelmed in the end, but still yearns for more. I wouldn't mind, if Freeman plans a sequel to this one to tie up the loose ends.
August 1, 2009
I cannot believe that this is a debut novel-I was so sad when I finished it because I wanted to keep reading. It was filled with sweetness, heartbreak, challenge and strength and I just loved it. It was like reading two books in one-both of which were excellent. I look forward to Ru Freeman's next book. I am confident that it will live up to the same standards that this one did.
January 18, 2012
This book, told in alternating chapters by Biso and Latha, is a kind of parallel story of friendship, love, and mistakes. While one starts hopeful and quickly turns sad, the other is sad and turns hopeful. The pace is a bit slow, but as you read, you begin to piece together what Biso and Latha have in common. And it's heartbreaking.
I really liked this one.
I really liked this one.
November 22, 2011
Few books are as intricately woven together from the start. By the halfway point, I thought I knew how the two stories in the novel wove together. The novel surprised me by continuously adding layers of intersection to the novel. It's outstanding and I have a signed copy.
March 1, 2021
Another book club read. I didn't really ever have the desire to pick it up, but when I did it was okay. Interesting to see how the caste system affected these people's lives. Although in some ways it seems like these characters got what they deserved.
October 12, 2017
Suffered from the over's - overwritten, overwrought, over dramatic & overly detailed.
June 7, 2017
More reviews available at my blog, Beauty and the Bookworm.
A Disobedient Girl has been on my reading list for a while--I think it came up as a recommendation while I was reading other books taking place in Sri Lanka. However, the university library didn't have it and it also wasn't available through the public library's Overdrive system. But I needed a few other books from the brick-and-mortar public library, so I put in a request for this one as well.
The story here follows two main characters, Latha and Biso. Latha's story starts when she's a young girl and the servant of a well-to-do family, mainly the family's daughter Thara, who is the same age as Latha. But Latha has never felt like she should be a servant, and as she and Thara grow, so does that feeling, leading to acts of rebellion and disobedience. Biso is a grown woman with three children fleeing an abusive marriage at the beginning of her story, and her entire narrative takes place over the course of that flight from her husband to the mountains where her family lives. At first, I couldn't really see the connection between those two narratives, until I hit upon that they're not taking place at the same time. Once I realized that, it all made a lot more sense.
Latha is not an imminently likable character. She's bratty and passive-aggressive and sometimes downright nasty. However, she is an extremely sympathetic character. Balancing those two halves can be very tricky and not many authors can do it well; Freeman does it wonderfully. Biso was less "connective" to me, especially at the end of the book. Her religion and philosophy didn't mesh well with my own thoughts and beliefs, and I found myself disliking her more with every chapter towards the end. I found Biso's half of the book (the chapters between the main characters alternate) to be more atmospheric than Latha's half, and definitely not as forward-driven as Latha's half, either. But the sense of atmosphere was wonderful, and Biso's story, simple as it is, is what really starts all of it. With this in mind, the structure of the book is largely circular. Latha is stuck in the same circle that Biso enters on her journey...until the end, where she seems to find an "exit" from the loop that promises a brighter future.
Overall, this was a lovely book. It was slow in some spots and every now and then the characters grated on my nerves, but I still really enjoyed it. I think it definitely helped that I'd read some other books taking place in Sri Lanka in similar time periods, because it meant that I had some background that wasn't present in the book and lent me an understanding of things that I wouldn't have otherwise had. However, I think you could have done without that; you might have wondered a bit about some of the political things discussed, but those didn't have an imminent bearing on much of the plot and it was a strong book either way.
4 stars out of 5.
A Disobedient Girl has been on my reading list for a while--I think it came up as a recommendation while I was reading other books taking place in Sri Lanka. However, the university library didn't have it and it also wasn't available through the public library's Overdrive system. But I needed a few other books from the brick-and-mortar public library, so I put in a request for this one as well.
The story here follows two main characters, Latha and Biso. Latha's story starts when she's a young girl and the servant of a well-to-do family, mainly the family's daughter Thara, who is the same age as Latha. But Latha has never felt like she should be a servant, and as she and Thara grow, so does that feeling, leading to acts of rebellion and disobedience. Biso is a grown woman with three children fleeing an abusive marriage at the beginning of her story, and her entire narrative takes place over the course of that flight from her husband to the mountains where her family lives. At first, I couldn't really see the connection between those two narratives, until I hit upon that they're not taking place at the same time. Once I realized that, it all made a lot more sense.
Latha is not an imminently likable character. She's bratty and passive-aggressive and sometimes downright nasty. However, she is an extremely sympathetic character. Balancing those two halves can be very tricky and not many authors can do it well; Freeman does it wonderfully. Biso was less "connective" to me, especially at the end of the book. Her religion and philosophy didn't mesh well with my own thoughts and beliefs, and I found myself disliking her more with every chapter towards the end. I found Biso's half of the book (the chapters between the main characters alternate) to be more atmospheric than Latha's half, and definitely not as forward-driven as Latha's half, either. But the sense of atmosphere was wonderful, and Biso's story, simple as it is, is what really starts all of it. With this in mind, the structure of the book is largely circular. Latha is stuck in the same circle that Biso enters on her journey...until the end, where she seems to find an "exit" from the loop that promises a brighter future.
Overall, this was a lovely book. It was slow in some spots and every now and then the characters grated on my nerves, but I still really enjoyed it. I think it definitely helped that I'd read some other books taking place in Sri Lanka in similar time periods, because it meant that I had some background that wasn't present in the book and lent me an understanding of things that I wouldn't have otherwise had. However, I think you could have done without that; you might have wondered a bit about some of the political things discussed, but those didn't have an imminent bearing on much of the plot and it was a strong book either way.
4 stars out of 5.
January 29, 2022
Probably should be compulsory reading in schools as one of those 'giving a voice to those at the bottom of society's pile' books, and through good writing too. Interestingly some of the most engaging parts are not so much the plot events of real hardship that the characters have to put up with, but the articulation of how such people feel. "If I had been allowed to be a human being" Latha says, to the girl who she self-confessed she has very strong love for. I think the pace is quite interesting too, how it's a bit slower and each piece of powerlessness stacks up higher and higher until by the time of the outburst you are really empathetic to how she must have just had enough. And I really like the interesting nervousness moment she has on the stairs of not knowing whether a new life is something good or terrible.
Also, last thought is that Mr Vithanage's role is extremely interesting. He's not unkind but should he be so guilty? He has no backbone and his wife is a horrible woman but should he need to stand up to her? Was he naive or did he actually give Latha a life with love and education in it and would she really have been better off (notwithstanding that the life she did have was clearly unfairly constrained).
Also, last thought is that Mr Vithanage's role is extremely interesting. He's not unkind but should he be so guilty? He has no backbone and his wife is a horrible woman but should he need to stand up to her? Was he naive or did he actually give Latha a life with love and education in it and would she really have been better off (notwithstanding that the life she did have was clearly unfairly constrained).
May 24, 2021
I have always been fond of stories that take me to places I've never been but have always been curious about. When I started to read this novel, I had little to no insight into Sri Lanka, its culture or its people. A Disobedient Girl opened my eyes to another world, another culture and another way of life.
Overall, it was a beautiful, emotional, tragic read. Why only 3 stars?! Because despite how beautiful and descriptive the book was, some of the descriptiveness got tiresome after a while. Although the impact of Sri Lanka's violent history touches the story in several places, it remains vague to those with no background in the country's politics. I was not a fan of the alternating chapters either. Many foreign terms/ Sinhala words are used throughout the book and a glossary would have been helpful; It encouraged me to scour the internet to find out more about Sri Lanka, however it may vex others.
Overall, it was a beautiful, emotional, tragic read. Why only 3 stars?! Because despite how beautiful and descriptive the book was, some of the descriptiveness got tiresome after a while. Although the impact of Sri Lanka's violent history touches the story in several places, it remains vague to those with no background in the country's politics. I was not a fan of the alternating chapters either. Many foreign terms/ Sinhala words are used throughout the book and a glossary would have been helpful; It encouraged me to scour the internet to find out more about Sri Lanka, however it may vex others.
April 8, 2019
This story was a slow-starter for me, but once I realized what my problem was, I was embarrassed. I'd had zero-exposure/experience with Sri Lanka before this book and found I struggled with the foreign-sounding names and diminutives. Once I got over myself and got used to them (for me, it helped adding an audio listen to this book along with reading it), I fell in love with the book. Freeman gives us alternating chapters from the perspective of Latha, who we first meet as a young servant girl in the Visthanage household, and Biso, a woman leaving an abusive husband with three children in tow. It takes a long time to understand and see any connections between the two women: Freeman weaves the tales beautifully. I'm so glad I didn't give up on this book and that I faced my own ignorance. I learned a lot about Sri Lanka and that I want to read more by Ru Freeman - a stunning debut.
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