Review by fictaddict -- Elastic Girl by Olivia Rana

[fictaddict]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Elastic Girl" by Olivia Rana.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Elastic Girl, by Olivia Rana, tells the story of Muthu, a young girl born into poverty and sold to a traveling circus, who deals with so much adversity before uncovering her strengths. The stage is set from the beginning, when Muthu is born, and her family is convinced she is cursed. This seems like something from another century, but is also a modern attitude.

As a young girl, Muthu is sold to the Great Raman Circus of Chennai. Again, this seems like something from another century, after all, many older Asian folktales involve selling or trading away an unwanted daughter. But this is a modern story, with Bollywood and cell phones in the background.

The story is set in India, and this book mixes beautiful landscapes and distant cities with hardship and heartbreak. The author has a real understanding of Indian life and customs. Sometimes this is a detriment, though, since I didn’t recognize all the food and clothing mentioned. I’d have preferred descriptions of the clothes, especially the first time someone was shown in a dupatta, a salwar kameez, or a churidar. More description would have improved the novel’s setting. When I read books set in other times or other countries, I love to learn more about daily life and I wanted that here.

At the circus, Muthu seems happy at first, dreaming of stardom, training hard, and meeting a new friend, Gloria. I was anxious through this part, though. I’d read a review that said she was trafficked, so I knew something awful was about to happen. When it does happen, though, characters in the circus had a disturbing awareness of rape as an inevitable trouble, like the monsoons. This serves to highlight how powerless the girls are. In this case, and in ohher scenes, this author avoids graphic detail, while still creating moving and upsetting scenes.

Later, Gloria’s drug addiction showed again how powerless the girls are. Her addiction was created by a trafficker, and increased by johns and other men trying to use her. This seemed tragic, because Muthu was losing her only friend to an invisible, powerful enemy, and natural, because after all the horrors and betrayals of Gloria’s life, it made sense for her to want some relief and escape. The natural writing style and the acceptance of tragedy made this and other events more moving.

Towards the end of the book, the reason why Muthu’s family -- especially her maternal grandmother -- believe she’s cursed is revealed. Usually in my reading, if I’m too surprised by revealed backstory, it feels forced or fake. In this case, I was taken aback by the reveal, but then certain comments and behaviors throughout the novel that just seemed like aspects of poverty suddenly made perfect sense. This added depth to the characters of Muthu’s family, and helped to explain her father’s actions.

This story has a compelling protagonist fighting almost insurmountable odds. In addition, the secondary characters are well-developed, and the obstacles are believable and tragic. I’d give this book 4 out of 4 stars, with the warning that the novel’s content may upset readers.

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Elastic Girl
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[Debjani Ghosh]

This seems like a hard-hitting and a poignant tale about a girl who has to fight innumerable odds to survive. I can relate to this story since I am an Indian, and such stories are sadly still common here even in the 21st century. Thanks for the review!