Review by Guinevere09 -- Elastic Girl by Olivia Rana

[Kristy Khem]

[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 is the story of Muthu, a young Indian girl who suffers immense hardship and loss at all stages of her life. As the youngest daughter of the Tikaram family, she is denied an education and instead she works as a roti vendor to earn money. At just eleven, Muthu finds equal time to play after work but tragedy strikes one day when she falls into a pool of an abandoned pump house. Muthu squeezes her body through an extremely narrow pipe and escapes with her life. She becomes known as Elastic Girl because of this and coupled with her natural flair for entertainment, Muthu realizes that people will pay her to perform on the street. When her family is plunged into extreme poverty, Muthu’s father sees financial potential in her performances and coaxes her to join a traveling circus.

Encouraged by her budding potential to become a star, Muthu naively joins The Great Raman Circus but later she sadly realizes that she is locked into a five-year contract during which time her family will collect all of her wages. Muthu pursues the path to stardom for her family’s sake but soon encounters the terrors that lurk within the circus. When she finally escapes, she finds that the streets of Mumbai present their own horrors and her beloved family harbors more terrifying secrets forcing Muthu to question her life’s purpose.

I liked that the descriptions of India’s landscapes and its vibrant culture are well written in this book. The use of Hindi words in conversation and the snippets of religion, cuisine, governance and ways of life mentioned in various parts of the book truly makes the setting come to life. In addition to this, the author incorporates a wide range of social issues that are plaguing Indian society and as a whole, I appreciate that India is realistically portrayed. I was also surprised that the author is Irish yet she was able to capture life in India.

Although the book is easy to understand and the characters are developed well, there is a plethora of topics that are covered in the story, some described in detail more than others. Some of them are child labor, sexual abuse, drug abuse, trafficking, death, traditional gender roles, poverty and unconventional romance. I found that some of these subjects were not appealing to read about but the storyline was so unpredictable that it kept my interest to the end.

In my opinion, this book is best suited for a young adult or adult audience. Although the main character is young, I think that the themes portrayed in the story are too crude for juvenile readers. This author skillfully paints pictures with her words and descriptions of rape and molestation are quite vivid. Expletives are also used in the book. Students who are studying gender and social issues at tertiary level would benefit from reading this book as it highlights real issues that occur in India.

I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars for its depth and interesting plot. Furthermore, there are hardly any grammatical errors and I found it to be well researched and descriptive.

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Elastic Girl
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Like Guinevere09's review? Post a comment saying so!

[kdstrack]

Your summary of the book and Muthu's life experiences is very compelling. These situations are difficult to read about, and more so knowing how much of it is not fiction.

[Kristy Khem]

I agree, it was a sad book to read about and some parts were extremely disturbing because I know it happens in real life. It really speaks about the powerlessness of children.

[Italiansweety1982]

I just read this book. A good read, well written, but some parts were hard to get thru.