On the HahaFiction shelf
The Bandit Queens
Audiobook available · 13 hr 14 min
Geeta didn’t kill her husband. He walked out, and she has found that letting the village think otherwise keeps people from interfering in her life. Then other wives ask her to help arrange deaths of their own. Protecting her independence now means dealing with expectations she has no experience meeting.
From the publisher’s blurb
“Filled with clever criminals, second chances, and wry and witty women”Read the full description at Ballantine Books
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What makes it funny?
At a loan-group meeting, mothers list their children’s expenses and then dutifully praise motherhood. Geeta answers by pointing out how much she likes sleep and money. Her private wish that a lizard drop onto the group’s bully is less diplomatic. Readers in book groups single out the women’s banter and enjoy seeing Geeta succeed.
The comedy at work
The supposed expert in killing husbands has acquired her credentials through gossip. Shroff uses that mistake for dark misunderstandings, while the women’s arguments expose how much anger and resentment they have to conceal in polite company.
Try this if…
Readers drawn to revenge stories with sharp exchanges between women have plenty to work with here. Geeta’s growing independence matters as much as the murder schemes; readers particularly enjoy watching her succeed.
Good to know
Domestic abuse and misogyny receive detailed treatment, and murder is central to the plot. Some readers struggled to get into the book or found unfamiliar words and pronunciations difficult.
More funny contemporary & literary
Sources & further reading
- The Bandit Queens (Unabridged) — Apple Books
Book information
- The Bandit Queens — Penguin Random House
Publisher
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