Gita Reddy is at the top of her game in this compelling page-tuner about a young woman, Sudha, a relatively happily married wife and mother living in company housing near Hyderabad, India. Perhaps her husband isn’t all that she might wish, and perhaps there is an emptiness inside her due to a loss in her childhood, but life isn’t all that bad. Then something occurs that throws her life into disarray and changes everything. One night a neighbour calls her, in great distress. Sudha rushes to her aid but nothing can be done and the neighbour dies after a protracted labour leaving a baby girl quite literally in Sudha’s arms. Feeling an instant rush of connection Sudha determines she will do whatever it takes to protect the baby from an uncertain but bleak future with her drunken wastrel of a father. How she does this is the subject of this well-written and engaging novel, one which Reddy handles with her usual insight and compassion. As we accompany Sudha in her adventures we get a fascinating portrait of life in contemporary India, including some of its murkier aspects. There’s drama aplenty her but the book never descends into melodrama. Reddy is in control of her narrative at all times and presents us with a wide range of believable and relatable characters and convincing dialogue. There are many twists and turns but nothing that stretches the reader’s credulity. This is also the first book I have read (September 2020) which includes the Coronavirus pandemic, and Reddy handles this exceptionally well, making the crisis an integral part of the plot rather than letting it dominate. All in all I found this an immersive read which I very much enjoyed and which I heartily recommend.
This is a wonderfully written and touching story. The mentions of the pandemic hitting around the time it's set were very skillfully incorporated in to the tale, and the whole plot flows at a nice pace. Also, the characters are fantastically portrayed well-rounded people, and the ending was just beautiful.
Gita V. Reddy's stories are always thoughtful and sensitively written, and "The Morning Star" is no exception. It is essentially a book about the search for family: Sudha's family let her down early in life, and when she finds herself in charge of a motherless baby, she is desperate to seek out a loving family for it - even if it means leaving her own home.
So begins a journey, both physical and spiritual, as Sudha sets out on a lonely and at times frightening quest. Although she finds help along the way, and begins to gather a surrogate family around her, the growing threat of coronavirus looms large and puts yet more obstacles in her path. The virus and its effects are woven skilfully through the storyline in this carefully plotted book, which vividly depicts the upheaval caused in India at both a national and a personal level.
The author is also particularly adept at portraying the nuanced relationships in friendship and marriage. Sudha is a subtly drawn, attractive character who understands the motives and strengths of others but is slower to learn to have confidence in her own strength. Her story is both gripping and sympathetically told; and in the unexpected ending to her search for family, hope and compassion shine through.
