Review by Hillchris2013 -- Elastic Girl by Olivia Rana

[Hillchris2013]

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

---

3 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Elastic Girl by author Olivia Rana is the beautiful and inspirational story of a small girl named Muthu in India. Deemed as a curse from her very conception, bad luck seems to plague Muthu throughout her early life. Her older sisters receive an education while she is made to sell roti to help support the family. When Muthu is put in a harrowing life experience, she is able to save herself by making herself disappear. She is called elastic girl because she can curl herself into a tiny ball, which people will pay to see. When her family home is destroyed and they are moved to a patch of land with no house, Muthu’s father takes her to audition for the circus. She is invited to join and train to be a star. Her father takes her to the circus and she is led to believe she can go home at any time, but after her father leaves she discovers that she is in a five year contract while her family collects all the money on her behalf. For years she stays and trains to be a star, but darkness hides in the circus and when she can finally escapes, she finds that darkness hides just as easily in Mumbai.


I really enjoyed this book. I appreciate how they author worked to create India in the book, explaining small parts of culture, history, and politics as the book progresses. The characters in the book are all very realistic, and the mind of Muthu is developed nicely throughout the book. There are many twists and turns in the book and you can never really predict what will happen next, and the end was a complete surprise to me.


This book follows the reality of child and sex trafficking in India, showing how families literally sell their kids because they are starving and how adults prowl for homeless children to sell to brothels. This obviously means that child molestation and rape take place in the book and are described in detail. Reading these experiences can be, at times, depressing and uncomfortable, but if you can handle heavy topics I would highly recommend this book. The author handled these subjects as well as anybody could and ultimately the main character triumphs over her experiences.


A common theme that I was attracted to throughout the book is the relationships between men in women in Muthu’s life and in India in general. Muthu’s experiences can almost all be chalked up to the fact that she is a girl in a man’s world, with men being the main antagonists everywhere she goes and her main abusers. She is sold by her father. In the circus the men drink too much and one man in particular grooms young girls. When she finally escapes she is met with another groomer and a man that pretends to be a woman to sell young girls. I would recommend this book to anybody that enjoys reading about gender and evaluating traditional gender roles.


I would rate this book 3 out of 4 starts, very nearly 4 out of 4. It is beautifully written, the characters feel real and you can tell the author has a deep understanding of the events that happened and how it would make real people feel and react. The themes are presented clearly, making the book easy and fast to read. The subjects in the book are dark, but Muthu is always a very hopeful and driven character that makes the best of things and overcomes. If this author is lucky the book could easily be picked up by the Oprah book club or something because it is very high quality. Highly recommend!

******
Elastic Girl
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

Like Hillchris2013's review? Post a comment saying so!

[kdstrack]

I agree that the themes are presently clearly but are at times difficult to read. You point out how the author highlights several different themes. Very nice.