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Book Cover for: When I Hit You: Or, a Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife, Meena Kandasamy

When I Hit You: Or, a Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife

Meena Kandasamy

Paperback
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Finalist:Women's Prize for Fiction -Fiction (2018)

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2018

LONGLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE 2018

SHORTLISTED FOR THE JHALAK PRIZE 2018

A BEST BOOK OF 2017
Financial Times
The Guardian
The Daily Telegraph
The Observer

"Meena Kandasamy's vivid, sharp and precise writing makes a triumph of When I Hit You."--The Guardian

Set in modern India, the unnamed narrator falls in love with a university professor and agrees to be his wife. Based on the author's own experience of marriage, soon the newly-wed experiences extreme violence at her husband's hands and finds herself socially isolated. Intellectual and physical cruelty is explored. Yet hope keeps her alive. Writing becomes her salvation, a supreme act of defiance and, as the subtitle suggests, the novel is also about the act of writing itself and the way that fiction and stories can help you escape.

Though a harrowing story, Kandasamy's writing is also funny, tender, and lyrical. When I Hit You is smart, fierce, and courageous.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Europa Editions
  • Publish Date: Mar 17th, 2020
  • Pages: 288
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.20in - 5.20in - 0.80in - 0.60lb
  • EAN: 9781609455996
  • Categories: • Literary• Women

About the Author

Kandasamy, Meena: -

Meena Kandasamy is a poet, fiction writer, translator, and activist who lives in Chennai and London. She has published two collections of poetry, Touch and Ms. Militancy, and the critically acclaimed novel, The Gypsy Goddess. This is her second novel.

More books by Meena Kandasamy

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Book Cover for: Tomorrow Someone Will Arrest You, Meena Kandasamy
Book Cover for: Exquisite Cadavers, Meena Kandasamy

What people are saying

Critics’ reviews

Praise for this book

★ "What makes this novel unique is the feisty voice of the narrator and the rich details of her intellectual interests and her husband's leftist politics in contemporary India. [...] So long as society does not listen to women, this novel shows, no woman will truly be safe."--Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

★ "Kandasamy's thoughtful deep dive into the nature of abuse and its effects is a call-to-action to believe and support all women."―Booklist (Starred review)

"Explosive...Meena Kandasamy's vivid, sharp and precise writing makes a triumph of When I Hit You."―The Guardian

"Urgent, searing."--The New York Times Book Review

"When I Hit You is a sharp, scalding novel that is not soon forgotten."--ForeWord Reviews

"Kandasamy is showing us the sleight of hand in slow motion, and grinning from ear to ear as she does so."--Los Angeles Review of Books

"Courageous and brave and disturbing and will stay with you for a long time"―Stylist

"Fierce and unforgettable"―Culturefly

"Brilliant . . . Astonishing . . . By far the best read of the year"―Women Writers

"Read it as an extended prose poem, a feminist anthem, an experiment with life. But do read it."--The Daily O

"A searing analysis of an all-too-common predicament."--Rebecca Rose, Financial Times

'Best Books of 2017' "Searing...I read it in a single sitting."--Fatima Bhutto, author of Songs of Blood And Sword and The Shadow Of The Crescent Moon

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