My Rating - 3 out of 5 stars
Publisher - Harper CollinsPublishing year - 2019
Language - English
ISBN - 978-93-9032-794-2
Pages - 277
Book Review -
Girl in White Cotton is Avni Doshi's debut novel, first published under the title Burnt Sugar. A few years ago, this book was everywhere on Bookstagram. Based on the title and cover, I mistakenly assumed it would be a story about a girl's journey through menstruation—silly me.
Now that I’ve read it, I know it’s the journey of two women: Tara and her daughter, Antara. But it’s not about menstruation; it’s about something far more complex and unsettling.
The story revolves around Antara, who is trying to care for her mother, Tara, who is slowly succumbing to dementia. The twist lies in their toxic relationship. Antara harbours deep resentment toward her mother, and Tara is equally indifferent, blaming her daughter for all her life’s miseries.
As the narrative unfolds, their mutual hatred and generational traumas become glaringly evident. The book explores their shared past and fractured present, but as a reader, I found it difficult to connect with any of the characters. They are shallow, self-centred, and deeply flawed in ways that make empathy challenging.
Tara and Antara, in particular, feel like two sides of the same broken coin. I kept wishing Avni Doshi had allowed them to attempt healing or to express their emotions openly, rather than letting their unresolved feelings fester into poison.
Antara resents her mother’s flawed parenting but seems doomed to repeat the same mistakes. Her attitude toward her husband and her reasoning for having a child struck me as absurd and backward, especially given her education. It left me questioning whether her circumstances or the author was to blame for such a poorly constructed personality.
This novel unsettled me in all the wrong ways. It is steeped in negativity, which makes it a tough read, especially at this moment in my life. Yet, I kept going to see how it would end—and the ending, sadly, was disappointing too.
So, why am I still giving this book three stars? Despite its flaws, Girl in White Cotton offers an unflinching portrayal of harsh realities and the dark recesses of a fractured mind.
Avni Doshi writes with an intensity that effectively delivers these unsettling truths. While I couldn’t connect with the characters or the story, I can recognize its merit as a raw and dark exploration of human relationships. If this sounds like your kind of read, you might find it worth a try.
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