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Product Details
Atria Books, July 2009
Hardcover, 384 pages
ISBN-10: 1439101957
ISBN-13: 9781439101957
Description
SHE LOVED FINE THINGS, AND SHE HAD NO DOUBT THAT SHE DESERVED THEM. . . . Young Latha knows that she was not meant to be a servant. She was born for finer things, like the rose-smelling soap she steals from the family she has worked for since she was five, or the glasses of fresh lime juice she helps herself to after a long day. But the hard truth is that her life is tied to Thara, the family’s spoiled daughter, and for the next thirty years they grow up bound by love, betrayal, resentment, and an impossible secret. Then there is Biso, a devoted mother of three, who risks everything to escape from her tyrannical husband. Though her journey begins with hope, she navigates a disastrous path that ultimately binds her story to Latha and Thara’s in the most unexpected and heartbreaking way.
Set against the volatile backdrop of class and prejudice in Sri Lanka, A Disobedient Girl is a bold and deeply moving tale about the will to survive and the incredible power of the human spirit to transcend the unforgiving sweep of tragedy.
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1. Meet the Novelist Ru Freeman03:0530989869001 -
2. Author Ru Freeman Talks About Her New Novel A Disobedient...02:0629781873001 -
3. What Is Ru Freeman's Favorite Movie?00:3027799269001 -
4. Words of Wisdom From Ru Freeman00:2027796591001 -
5. Author Ru Freeman Reveals Her Favorite Place00:2627796524001
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How did you come to write this book?
My teacher, Lynn Freed,had given us an in-class assignment to write a paragraph, any paragraph, without thinking about anything specific. I wrote a paragraph about a woman standing in her doorway, her children somewhere off scene, watching her drunken husband make his way home through the mangrove swamps in a coastal town in Sri Lanka. At the end of the paragraph, she thinks about what she plans to do at dawn while he is still asleep. That paragraph turned into the first chapter of the book. It remains, largely untouched, as the first chapter of Biso's story.
"Startling, subversive and heartbreaking, A Disobedient Girl offers a window into the lives of two unforgettable women. Read this novel for the beauty of the writing and the pleasure of discovering a uniquely gifted storyteller." --Danielle Trussoni, New York Times bestselling author of Angelology
-- Danielle Trussoni, New York Times bestselling author of Angelology
"A Disobedient Girl is a lush, sweeping epic about desire and betrayal, hope and perseverance. Ru Freeman is a fierce, unflinching storyteller, her landscape dark and beautiful, her characters unforgettable. I couldn't put this novel down." --Aryn Kyle, New York Times bestselling author of Boys and Girls Like You and Me and The God of Animals
-- Aryn Kyle, New York Times bestselling author of Boys and Girls Like You and Me and The God of Animals
"A heartbreaking and ultimately uplifting novel that celebrates our ability to transcend tragedy."
-- Rishi Reddi, author of Karma and Other Stories and winner of the L. L. Winship/PEN Awar
Chicago Sun-Times, November 16, 2009
...Law, 375 E. Chicago. Tickets: $10 in advance; $15 at the door; free for students and teachers. • Ru Freeman signs A Disobedient Girl, 4:30 p.m. at Women & Children First, 5233 N. Clark. NOV. 16 • Essay Fiesta, a new free monthly reading ...
Huffington Post, October 8, 2009
...So I've been on the road a lot, reading from and talking about my novel, A Disobedient Girl. I'm grateful that there is a road, that it leads somewhere, that now and again it stops and that when it does, people come out to bookstores and ...
Whidbey News-Times, August 4, 2009
... The Bookworm ?A Disobedient Girl? by Ru Freeman, c. 2009, Atria Books, $25.00, 384 pages. It?s a small world. And it?s getting smaller. Case in point: you strike up a conversation ...
Pahrump Valley Times, July 30, 2009
...people every day, it's almost inevitable that we're all connected. But in the new novel 'A Disobedient Girl' by Ru Freeman, two women with different lives are linked in the most heartbreaking way. Latha loved the finer things in life. Though ...
Minot Daily News, July 28, 2009
...people every day, it's almost inevitable that we're all connected. But in the new novel 'A Disobedient Girl' by Ru Freeman, two women with different lives are linked in the most heartbreaking way. Latha loved the finer things in life. Though ...
