The Daughters of Madurai

A Novel

By: Rajasree Variyar

Narrated by: Vaishnavi Suryaprakash

Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

The Daughters of Madurai is both a heartrending family story and a thrilling mystery about the secrets we must keep to protect those we love.

Madurai, 1992. A young mother in a poor family, Janani is told she is useless if she can’t produce a son—or worse, if she bears daughters. They let her keep her first baby girl, but the rest are taken away as soon as they are born and murdered. But Janani can’t forget the daughters she was never allowed to love.

Sydney, 2019. Nila has a secret; one she’s been keeping from her parents for too long. Before she can say anything, her grandfather in India falls ill and she agrees to join her parents on a trip to Madurai. Nila knows very little about where her family came from or who they left behind. What she’s about to learn will change her forever. While The Daughters of Madurai explores the harrowing issue of female infanticide, it’s also a universal story about the bond between mothers and daughters, the strength of women, and the power of love in overcoming all obstacles.

©2023 Rajasree Variyar (P)2023 Orion Publishing Group

Voice switch up would help.

The voice actor didn’t switch up the voices. So it did sound as though it were all one person. Although I’m glad they were South Asian to help with some pronunciations I did not know. Still a great book though with a heart wrenching story.

Must listen

A beautiful but heartbreaking story set in India in the 1990’s and present day. A young woman discovers the harsh truth about her mothers journey as a poor woman in India and how she overcame her circumstances

Loved it

Heartbreaking that female infanticide still occurs. The interwoven stories are compelling, and the narration was really good too.

Absolutely loved it!

Great read. Difficult and tense some times but very well written and well performed! Need more book from this author.

Excellent & Much Needed

Excellent book, really suspenseful and well written, and tells a story that, sadly, still needs to be told, one thousand times over. As a woman of Indian origin, I really appreciate the author giving our women this voice. I couldn’t stop listening (even my 5 and 8 yo sons would listen intently whenever they were around as I was listening), and am looking forward to her future books!!!

Wow!

From beginning to end this story was captivating. I loved the characters, the bravery. All first generation immigrants or rebels from stubbornly traditional families will appreciate this read. Wow!

To get the PERSPECTIVE from two generations. The frustration from the daughter from not knowing her mother, but simultaneously living through the mother’s trauma -we the audience can feel it all!

Wow! Read and share with family.

Not for me

I couldn’t get into it. I can’t relate, I don’t know if it was the story or my attention span but it bored me. I would like my credit back.

I couldn't finish it.

It is a rare book that I don't finish, but this one I quit after a few hours of listening. To be fair I knew it was going to be a book about learning the secrets of the past, of horrible acts that were excused and accepted. I'd read of bunch of those books lately and I wasn't in the mood for another one. I felt like I knew how the book would proceed. I couldn't get interested in the characters early enough to stay with it. On the plus side I learned something new, something I should have known, and I learned about something that if it still exists should be exposed and stopped. I may pick this up again later.

Terrible narration.

The narrator was awful. Drawn-out and boring at times.
Additionally, had I known that the story was going to revolve around an affair between two women I would certainly not waste a credit on this…