Tell A Thousand Lies
May 3, 2012

Tell a Thousand Lies
Author: Rasana Atreya
Publication Date: March 8, 2012
At this time available via Kindle only, but hardback coming soon.

Tell A Thousand Lies, was shortlisted for the 2012 Tibor Jones South Asia prize.

Book Description:
In a land where skin colour can determine one's destiny, fraternal twins PULLAMMA and LATA are about to embark on a journey that will tear their lives apart.

Dark skinned Pullamma dreams of being a wife. With three girls in her family, the sixteen year old is aware there isn't enough dowry to secure suitable husbands for them all.

Fair skinned and pretty, her twin sister Lata would rather study medicine than get married.

As Pullamma helps ready the house for her older sister Malli's bride viewing, she prays for a positive outcome to the event. What happens
next is so inconceivable that it will shape Pullamma's future in ways she couldn't have foreseen.

TELL A THOUSAND LIES is a sometimes wry, sometimes sad, but ultimately
realistic look at how superstition and the colour of a girl's skin rules India's hinterlands.

Idgie Says:

Pullamma’s life filled with ridiculous intrigue because of a bad politician. He plots constantly with ways to raise above his current status in government through treachery, forcing Pullama to become a Goddess. She gains a husband when the politician's grandson decides to thwart him by kidnapping and marrying her, thereby making Grandpa lose his goddess. Until he manages to get her back of course.

What follows then is a full, juicy tale of Pullama's life while she desperately tries to find a way around treachery and loss and to reach her only goal in life of a lovely home with children and a husband she loves.

This is a good story that shows a lot of interesting Indian culture but you have to concentrate to keep up with all intrigue and family connections – not a bad thing, just not a “skim” read or you’ll lose track. The plot is filled with death threats, kidnapping, baby snatching, forced marriages and also forced child deliveries.

It kept me interested all the way through.
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Reviewed by Idgie. If you would like to have the Dew review a book, please contact me at dewonthekudzu@gmail.com

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