Outside Women

Choudhry debuts with a riveting dual narrative of two South Asian women faced with similar moral dilemmas a century apart. Hajra, a young activist and scholar protesting religious fundamentalism in 1989 Peshawar, narrowly avoids a targeted attack by a fundamentalist who mistakenly throws acid on another protestor, seriously injuring her. Fearing for her life and afraid to testify against the attacker, Hajra flees to New York City, where she pursues her graduate research on Indians’ indentured servitude in South Africa in the 19th century. While poring over an archive, she’s captivated by a photograph of a woman laughing while holding a protest banner in Durban, South Africa. Driven by curiosity, she travels to Durban, where she gradually uncovers the woman’s history and legacy. Choudhry alternates Hajra’s narrative with that of Sita, the woman in the photo. In 1891 India, Sita is tricked into a five-year contract as an indentured servant at an estate in Durban, where she works as a nanny and befriends the other women servants, who also dream of regaining their freedom. Like Hajra, Sita witnesses a terrible injustice, and as the two women seek the courage to speak up, the novel keenly portrays the power of female solidarity. The result is an incisive story of how change happens. (Mar.)

Correction: A previous version of this review incorrectly stated that the other protestor was killed in the acid attack.