Book Review: Fighting For Tara by Sunanda Chatterjee

It has been a long time since a book actually made me so impatient to know what was going to happen, that I skipped pages and went ahead and then came back to read the pages I had missed. But I could not leave Hansa alone with her baby Tara, while the author took us off on a tangent from Rajasthan to San Francisco. With nail biting anxiety I followed the journey of the 13 year old child bride and mother as she struggled to keep her baby safe.
I have a new favourite author to add to my list! Sunanda Chaterjee has managed to bring out both the woman and the child in Hansa so beautifully. At thirteen she is a mother and her instinct to protect her baby gives her a maturity far beyond her years. Yet, it comes about so naturally as part of the story that when Hansa finally gets to act like the teenager she is, your heart just goes “aww my baby!”
A beautifully written story, it combines the traditional with the modern. On one hand it showcases the plight of the women in traditional cultures and on the other hand it throws light on the absurd demands that modern religions make on us as well. At the end of the day, it all depends on what one wants to follow and believe in and where you draw the line. Hansa refused to let tradition dictate whether her baby girl lived or not and years later, Anne would have to decide if she would allow her religion to choose if her baby lived or died.
After reading Fighting for Tara, I heaved a deep sigh of satisfaction! Finally a book that made me feel replete!

Blurb

How far will a mother go to save her child?

“I have no use for a baby girl. Get rid of her tonight!” He towered over her as she cringed in fear.

But Hansa, a thirteen-year-old child-bride in rural India, refuses to remain a victim of the oppressive society where a female child is an unwanted burden. Instead of drowning her baby, Hansa escapes from her village with three-month-old Tara.

Hansa soon discovers that life as a teenage mother is fraught with danger. But a single lie opens the door to a promising opportunity far from home.

Just seven years later, Hansa finds herself fighting for Tara’s life once more, this time in an American court, with a woman she calls ‘Mother.’

Will the lie upon which Hansa built her life, defeat its own purpose? How can she succeed when no one believes the truth?

A story of two mothers, two daughters and a fight to save a child, Fighting for Tara explores the depth of love and motherhood.

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About the author

Freelance author, blogger, and ex-Indian Air Force physician Sunanda Joshi Chatterjee completed her graduate studies in Los Angeles, where she is a practicing pathologist. While medicine is her profession, writing is her passion. When she’s not at the microscope making diagnoses, she loves to write fiction. Her life experiences have taught her that no matter how different people are, their desires, fears, and challenges remain the same.
Her themes include romantic sagas, family dramas, immigrant experience, women’s issues, medicine, and spirituality. She loves extraordinary love stories and heartwarming tales of duty and passion. Her short stories have appeared in short-story.net and induswomanwriting.com.
She grew up in Bhilai, India, and lives in Arcadia, California with her husband and two wonderful children. In her free time, she paints, reads, sings, goes on long walks, and binge-watches TV crime dramas.