Reviews

The Liberation of Sita by Volga

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s1etal's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

look_whos_reading's review against another edition

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challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

anomadicnarrative's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

The book is very insightful and a collection of 5 stories, each of which offer lessons of enlightenment to Sita through experiences of other women.

🌟🌟🌟🌟

"Each one to their own truth. Does anyone in this world have the power to decide between truth and untruth?"

In Valmiki’s narrative of the Ramayana, many female characters such as Urmila, Ahalya, Surpanakha and Renuka Devi, are shadowed by their male counterparts and their struggle is forgotten.

Liberation of Sita is a collection of five short stories, each breathing life into a neglected female character from Ramayana. Every story explores an encounter between Sita and a character regarding how they discovered their true self after breaking free from societal norms and respecting themselves.
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These stories also play a part in liberation of Sita and her subsequent growth as a person. While the last story shows us the contrast between Sita, who has been liberated from the shackles of society and Ram, who has been trapped in worldly affairs unable to achieve liberation.
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The book has been translated from Telegu to English and is a very short but engaging read with the narrative changing from asking questions and then later weaving answers in the stories.
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For me , the biggest plus point of this feminist retelling was that all the characters were shown in the light of companionship rather than jealously. Each story had it's own charm and learnings and yet Volga managed to merge them all together with the themes of empathy and realizations.
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At the end of the book, Volga also highlights why she wrote the stories the way she did and makes each lesson embedded in the book clearer.
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This book is a very good pick if you need a combination of translated-feminist-short piece of literature, offering a variety of perspectives.

yogya's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

geekgoddessofbooks's review against another edition

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5.0

The Story of Ramayana is famously told in our homes. And with the story comes the values and beliefs which have been instilled in our society. While Ram and Sita were considered the perfect couple, we never got to read Ramayana from the perspective of Sita or all the decisions taken for her and Ram, what was the impact of that. I always felt it was unfair that Sita had to give Agni Pariksha but Ramayana hugely glorifies Ram for being the Ultimate Man. Wrong. Sita is the Daughter of the Earth. The Journey of Sita emphasises not her individual journey but also of women like Ahalya, Shurpnakha, Rukmini and Urmila, of women who were equal to men in all aspects but were wronged by the values of the society which are echoed in the chants of Ramayana in our homes. A must Read.