By Gloria WhelanThirteen-year-old Koly goes with her family to wed a man with whose family a marriage has been arranged. Koli's family sacrifices to provide her dowry. When she meets Hari, she discovers he is very young and gravely ill. Her dowry money was needed to finance a trip to the Ganges River to cure Hari. Despite his illness, Koly likes Hari and is truly sorrowful when he dies.
Koly develops a close friendship with Hari's sister, though Koly realizes her life as a widow will be a harsh one. She continues to hone her embroidery skills and also asks her father-in-law, a teacher, to teach her to read. When Koly's father-in-law dies, her mother-in-law, destitute, takes her to another holy city, where she deserts Koly. A kindly richshaw driver, Raji, takes her to a home for young widows, where Koly finds a welcome, friends, and a job. Her embroidery skills and literacy help her overcome poverty. Raji saves enough money from his richshaw work to buy some farmland and the two look forward to a future together. This short, hopeful book gives insights into many Hindu customs (dowries, family obligations, etc). Helpful glossary.
I always enjoyed selecting books for the young adult collection and this was a lovely story. For older adults, the film Water is a wonderful, poignant story of young widows in 1930s India.
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