We're thrilled to be a stop on Shobhan Bantwal's cyber book tour. Thanks to Lori Eads, we have, for your pleasure, a review AND an interview. Be sure to scroll down and read the interview after you've read about the book.
The Forbidden Daughter
By Shobhan Bantwal
Reviewed by Lori Eads
I have to be honest, the first chapter of this book is sad and depressing. It may have been my own frame of mind at the time, but I almost had to force myself to keep reading into the second chapter. I am so very glad I did.
When we first meet Isha Tilak, she is a young pregnant widow with a four year old daughter. She and her husband Nikhil, and their daughter Priya lived with his parents, as is common in Indian society. Isha’s own parents are dead.
What caught my interest was the conversation our main character has with an old man - “supposedly a sadhu – a sage or holy man” outside the walled compound of a temple.
He prophesizes about the unborn child she is carrying, talks about her husband and his parents, and also the grief and pain she is struggling with. They have a conversation that leaves her feeling she has more questions than answers.
The second chapter takes us back three months. Nikhil and Isha are visiting her obstetrician to have an ultrasound test done. Both are nervous, remembering how disappointed Nikhil’s parents were when Isha’s first pregnancy revealed herself to be a granddaughter – girls are “useless” to them. When the doctor reveals this second baby is a girl, he discreetly offers to “fix” that. Nikhil and Isha are offended and angry, even though they both are wary of the response they will encounter from his parents when they arrive home. As expected, his parents are upset, and will not let the topic rest. They even suggest an abortion. The house becomes full of bitterness and animosity, and as time passes, the elder Tilaks ultimately forbid them to have the child, and order them to abort. Nikhil refuses, and tells them to not bring the topic up again.
Then Nikhil is murdered. Nikhil’s death has left Isha and Priya living in a home where they had always received second-class treatment. Priya, for being a girl, and Isha for giving birth to her. Now that the Tilaks have lost their beloved son, they blame the unborn girl Isha is carrying for his death. They believe she is a curse, and if the abortion had been done, Nikhil would still be alive. Five weeks of grief and mourning, bitterness and blame comes to a head one morning when Srikant, Nikhil’s father, repeatedly strikes Priya. She was crying for her father, not eating her breakfast and getting ready for school as she was told to do.
Isha suddenly realizes that life in that house will never improve, and that she must leave. Her in-laws scoff at her, reminding her that she has “no family, nothing.”
Undeterred, Isha packs their belongings and she and Priya walk away.
We follow Isha as she struggles to find a place for she and her daughter to stay, while awaiting the birth of her second “forbidden” daughter. It’s a joy to watch her begin to trust herself and her own decisions, as well as taking care of both girls. She is still grieving for her husband and the life they shared, while struggling to make her way in her new world. Isha finds people coming into her life that support and help her, as she grows and becomes more comfortable with her independence. Surprisingly, even members of her husband’s family reappear and some very sweet and heartwarming scenarios occur.
Aside from the main story of Isha, a second plot line develops that involves Nikhil’s murder. Isha’s now happy world is threatened, and I was not only surprised by the emergence of this storyline, I was genuinely worried and caught up in the suspense. I was also impressed with the author’s ability to merge the two storylines. Honestly, the scene just after the tense climax made me cry.
Happy tears – in case you were wondering.
I am very fond of many of Mrs. Bantwal’s characters. Each has varied emotions, and relatable human frailties. Even the main “bad guy” is developed into more than a one-dimensional villain into one who knows his actions are wrong – but he is very aware that he is in too deep. His henchman, of course, is slightly psychotic – but not a stereotypical “hired gun” who has no other life than his criminal dealings. You won’t feel bad that the police have caught up with him, but the people around him that are affected will break your heart.
The ending is perfect. It veers away from the staple “Woman and Man get married and all is perfect in the world” ending. Isha has gained an independent, self-reliant life that she enjoys. There is a promising relationship on the horizon, but by now Isha has changed into a woman with a wider, more clear, and yet still cautious view. The future relationship is hinted at, and it seems so right, as the reader has watched the two become closer. But she is not running headlong into another man’s arms for safety. She knows she can take care of herself, and her daughters. But she’s not averse to letting him into their world.
As the author’s note describes, she wrote The Forbidden Daughter to draw her readers’ attention to the horrid social issue of selectively aborting female fetuses, thanks to the development of ultrasound technology. India is a patriarchal society, where female children are not always or often welcomed. They are viewed as a burden because of the dowry and other persistent, archaic customs.
This is direct from her note: “The Lancet, a British medical journal, reported in January 2006 that according to a study nearly 10 million female fetuses may have been aborted in India over the last two decades”
A law was passed in 1994, banning the use of ultrasound machines to reveal fetus gender, and a 2002 amendment stiffened the penalties for such actions. However, the practice supposedly continues.
This book was an eye-opening experience with regard to the infuriating social issue at it’s center, but also interwoven with a lovely, romantic story. The author’s word choices and sentence structure are so well crafted I felt at times I could hear her voice in my head.
Shobhan Bantwal not only goes on my favorite author list, but now I am in search of another of her books. Reading The Forbidden Daughter was such a surprising experience, from my initial hesitation to my tears at it’s conclusion. I’m so very glad I was given this book to review.
Interview with Shobhan Bantwal
By Lori Eads
Mrs. Bantwal, I have to thank you profusely for allowing me to interview you – but even more so for creating such an incredible book. The Forbidden Daughter is amazing. I was so affected by your writing, and your characters’ experiences. I think you have a wonderful voice, and personally cannot wait to read more of your work. You also have an excellent website – including recipes!
Lori, thank you so much for hosting me on your blog. It is a thrill to hear such glowing remarks about my book as well as my website. One of my goals in picking a controversial topic like gender-based abortion was to educate, inform, and entertain my readers at the same time. If you found The Forbidden Daughter met all those criteria, then I am happy that I have accomplished what I set out to do.
I’d like to begin by asking you about your writing life. I read your biography on your website (www.shobhanbantwal.com) and noted that you never imagined that you would want to be a writer until your “half-century” birthday. Did you do any sort of creative writing in school or as a hobby?
Other than the usual school and college essays and term papers, I had not delved into any type of creative writing. I had won a top prize for an article I had written for the college year book in my senior year, but that was my only claim to fame or even to being called an author.
I call my creative writing a “menopausal epiphany” because I turned to creative writing as a quiet and absorbing hobby in my empty-nester years. What started out as a hobby soon turned into a second career. Now, if I could only earn enough money to make a living off of it, I would be a happy woman.
Can you tell us a bit about your writing process? How do you begin a project – do you start out hand-writing thoughts or do you work primarily on a computer?
I primarily use a computer, but I find that the thoughts that swirl around in my brain while I am driving to and from work or staring at the ceiling in the middle of night because to insomnia, do not flow all that well when I seat myself before a computer. But I force myself to do it nonetheless. I am an undisciplined writer, so I have to try harder than most to focus on my writing.
When you are involved in a project, do you have a writing schedule that you adhere to or do you write when the “muse” appears?
My creative spurts are few and far between, so I try to make the most of those rare, short periods when the muse whispers in my ear. When the creativity ebbs, I generally use that time to edit and revise what I have written up to that point.
Is there a time of day or night that you feel you work best?
Mornings are generally my best time. Sadly, on weekdays, I have to go to my full-time job, which pays the bills. My job is quite demanding, hence I come home too exhausted to write much. But I try to take full advantage of my weekend mornings as much as I can. My husband is very supportive of my writing, so he often lets me works for hours on end on the weekends, while he takes care of the daily chores.
Do you ever have writer’s block? If so, how do you get past it?
I have writer’s block a majority of the time. I have not come across a cure for it. However, reading good books by my favorite authors sometimes helps to wake up the slumbering muse and end a dry spell. It is amazing how other authors can be so inspiring to the rest of us.
Many authors admit to having a writing “quirk” – using specific pens to hand-write the first draft, wearing certain clothes helps them think, etc… Do you have any writing quirks?
I don’t have any writing quirks other than the need for a quiet atmosphere. I can’t write when there is a radio or television in the background. Peace and tranquility are my only requirements for writing. A piping hot cup of spiced Indian tea is always a great inspiration as well.
Now, I’d like to talk with you about your most recent book, The Forbidden Daughter. I think you’ve opened many readers’ eyes to an issue many of us knew little or nothing about. How did you decide to make the practice of selectively aborting female fetuses the central theme of this story?
Both my undergrad and graduate degrees are in sociology. I was always interested in social-political issues like dowry, arranged marriage, and women’s emancipation. When I took up fiction writing, I automatically veered toward using some of these controversial topics as the main themes for my books. They have proved to be very interesting topics for a lot of non-Indian readers and eye-openers for folks who have not been aware of such atrocities in other parts of the world.
Gender-based abortion is relatively new in Indian society (about two decades), but it has proliferated so much so quickly that I felt it needed to be addressed. I had not come across any other author who had tackled this rather touchy subject, and I snatched it up.
Your first book, The Dowry Bride also has an appalling social issue at its core, the abuse and killings of dowry brides. In an interview, you talked about how the story began as a short story assignment from your creative writing class. How did choose that particular issue?
The practice of dowry has been around for centuries, not only in India and similar cultures, but also in Europe. But while the Europeans have more or less given up the archaic practice, Indians and other South Asians have clung to it through the ages. Despite all the modernization and education, certain communities in India still practice the giving and taking of dowry, and in the process bankrupting the bride’s family. In fact, in recent years, the practice has escalated, mainly because the Asian economic boom has given rise to a new class of wealthy people who can afford larger dowries and lavish weddings.
Again, dowry killings and abuse made a fascinating subject around which to weave a story, and I decided to write about it, first as a short story and then as full-length fiction, since no other author had used it as a main theme.
Both books take place in the town of Palgaum. Is it based on your own hometown of Belgaum? Does writing about it make you nostalgic or homesick for India?
The fictitious town of Palgaum is indeed fashioned after my hometown of Belgaum. When I write about Palgaum, what I have before my eyes is the small town I was born and raised in. Belgaum, which is growing by leaps and bounds, is now a fairly large city and no longer resembles the rural hamlet I remember from my childhood.
But to answer your question, yes, writing about the streets, the landmarks, the scenes, the scents, and my characters’ experiences invariably brings on a wave of nostalgia every now and then. That fact in itself makes it so much fun to set my books in the simulated version of my old hometown.
Can you tell us a bit about your next project?
My next project is based in the U.S. and not India. The theme too is not intense or controversial like The Dowry Bride and The Forbidden Daughter. At the moment, my editor and I are doing some revising and changing of the title, so my publisher does not want me to discuss it until we whip it into shape. In a few months I will hopefully be able to have a title and a polished manuscript, and be able to talk about it in interviews. But I appreciate your interest, and I hope you will read that book as well, whenever it is published.
Thank you again for this interview, and for your wonderful books.
Once again, I appreciate your kind words about my books, and thank you for hosting me on your blog. This interview was a lot of fun.
For more information about Shobhan Bantwal’s virtual tour, visit – http://virtualblogtour.blogspot.com/2008/09/forbidden-daughter-by-shobhan-bantwal.html
The Forbidden Daughter can be ordered at: http://www.amazon.com/Forbidden-Daughter-Shobhan-Bantwal/dp/0758220308
You can visit Shobhan Bantwal at her website – www.shobhanbantwal.com
A native of the Las Vegas valley, Lori won her first writing contest in fifth grade and knew that writing was going to be an important part of her life. From then on, even during her 18 year career as an ophthalmic technician and surgical assistant, she has dreamt of writing for a living. She left ophthalmology in 2007 to work full-time on her first novel, take writing classes, start a blog, and write freelance articles. She spends her free time haunting the shelves of her neighborhood library, or curled up at home – lost in a book. Lori, her husband and their two kids, two cats, two birds and spoiled rotten dog still live in Las Vegas, close to grandparents and her favorite used book stores.
Hi Lori,
Thanks so much for the great review and interesting interview. I enjoyed both very much. You are very kind and generous with your praise for THE FORBIDDEN DAUGHTER. Your blog is lovely! I'm looking forward to visiting it often in the future.
Shobhan Bantwal
www.shobhanbantwal.com
THE FORBIDDEN DAUGHTER - Sept 2008
THE DOWRY BRIDE - Sept 2007
Posted by: Shobhan Bantwal | 10/15/2008 at 04:53 PM