The Color of Our Sky: A Novel
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Received to review.
From Chapters:
In the spirit of Khaled Hosseini, Nadia Hashimi and Shilpi Somaya Gowda comes this powerful debut from a talented new voice—a sweeping, emotional journey of two childhood friends in Mumbai, India, whose lives converge only to change forever one fateful night.
India, 1986: Mukta, a ten-year-old village girl from the lower caste Yellama cult has come of age and must fulfill her destiny of becoming a temple prostitute, as her mother and grandmother did before her. In an attempt to escape her fate, Mukta is sent to be a house girl for an upper-middle class family in Mumbai. There she discovers a friend in the daughter of the family, high spirited eight-year-old Tara, who helps her recover from the wounds of her past. Tara introduces Mukta to an entirely different world—one of ice cream, reading, and a friendship that soon becomes a sisterhood.
But one night in 1993, Mukta is kidnapped from Tara’s family home and disappears. Shortly thereafter, Tara and her father move to America. A new life in Los Angeles awaits them but Tara never recovers from the loss of her best friend, or stops wondering if she was somehow responsible for Mukta's abduction.
Eleven years later, Tara, now an adult, returns to India determined to find Mukta. As her search takes her into the brutal underground world of human trafficking, Tara begins to uncover long-buried secrets in her own family that might explain what happened to Mukta—and why she came to live with Tara’s family in the first place.
Moving from a traditional Indian village to the bustling modern metropolis of Mumbai, to Los Angeles and back again, this is a heartbreaking and beautiful portrait of an unlikely friendship—a story of love, betrayal, and, ultimately, redemption.
From Chapters:
In the spirit of Khaled Hosseini, Nadia Hashimi and Shilpi Somaya Gowda comes this powerful debut from a talented new voice—a sweeping, emotional journey of two childhood friends in Mumbai, India, whose lives converge only to change forever one fateful night.
India, 1986: Mukta, a ten-year-old village girl from the lower caste Yellama cult has come of age and must fulfill her destiny of becoming a temple prostitute, as her mother and grandmother did before her. In an attempt to escape her fate, Mukta is sent to be a house girl for an upper-middle class family in Mumbai. There she discovers a friend in the daughter of the family, high spirited eight-year-old Tara, who helps her recover from the wounds of her past. Tara introduces Mukta to an entirely different world—one of ice cream, reading, and a friendship that soon becomes a sisterhood.
But one night in 1993, Mukta is kidnapped from Tara’s family home and disappears. Shortly thereafter, Tara and her father move to America. A new life in Los Angeles awaits them but Tara never recovers from the loss of her best friend, or stops wondering if she was somehow responsible for Mukta's abduction.
Eleven years later, Tara, now an adult, returns to India determined to find Mukta. As her search takes her into the brutal underground world of human trafficking, Tara begins to uncover long-buried secrets in her own family that might explain what happened to Mukta—and why she came to live with Tara’s family in the first place.
Moving from a traditional Indian village to the bustling modern metropolis of Mumbai, to Los Angeles and back again, this is a heartbreaking and beautiful portrait of an unlikely friendship—a story of love, betrayal, and, ultimately, redemption.
As a ten year old in Mumbai, Tara's life is pretty normal. She lives with her mom and dad, but her father is known for helping out children less fortunate. One day, Tara's dad brings home Mukta, a young child from his home village whose mother is a prostitute. Mukta would have been destined for that life had she stayed in her village but maybe now she can know a more regular life. Her and Tara become quick friends, until disaster strikes the family. Tara blames Mukta and plans for her kidnapping.
As an adult, Tara is in the USA and wonders what happened to Mukta. She never got over the guilt from what she was responsible for. Heading back to India, she hopes that she can find her childhood friend.
Right from the beginning, all the way to the end, I was completely engaged by this story. The writing flows very well, despite there being shifts in time. I wouldn't have guessed that this was Trasi's debut novel.
Tara feel guilt her whole life on what she did to Mukta and this guilt shapes who she becomes as an adult. She makes decisions based on this guilt and to further punish herself. I thought this was a very genuine portrayal of a woman wracked with guilt.
This was a simple but wonderful book. I recommend it!
As an adult, Tara is in the USA and wonders what happened to Mukta. She never got over the guilt from what she was responsible for. Heading back to India, she hopes that she can find her childhood friend.
Right from the beginning, all the way to the end, I was completely engaged by this story. The writing flows very well, despite there being shifts in time. I wouldn't have guessed that this was Trasi's debut novel.
Tara feel guilt her whole life on what she did to Mukta and this guilt shapes who she becomes as an adult. She makes decisions based on this guilt and to further punish herself. I thought this was a very genuine portrayal of a woman wracked with guilt.
This was a simple but wonderful book. I recommend it!
