The Bandit Queens

My local public library plus two neighboring libraries selected “Bandit Queens” for the 2025 One Book, One Community selection. I even received a free physical copy as part of the program kick-off.

I absolutely loved this book! Parini Shroff takes us from the drudgery of day-to-day life to the humorous heckling between frenemies in a microphone group to the intricacies of the cast system in India to feckless husbands plus so many other places. At the beginning, we meet several of the main characters, who seemed like throwaways. But as the story develops, we really get to know them and they become much more fleshed out.

It's so hard to write a review and not give away the plot, some of which I wouldn't see coming before we took a left or right turn. Basically, buckle up! At some point, I plan to read this book again because it was that good.