The Wayward Daughter: A Kathmandu Story

Set against the backdrop of approaching civil war the story of a young girls coming of age by one of Nepals newest strongest voices writing in EnglishSumnima Tamule is in a crisis. Her friends at Rhododendron High Schoolall girls from semi-royal and other rich familieswill soon be going abroad but she with second-division marks in her final exams might have to settle for a grimy little college in town. Her parents plodding away in middle-class Kathmandu are deeply disappointed and all their hopes are now pinned on Numa her sister. Sundry cousins from their village in far-off Lungladriven out by poverty and the warring Maoistscome to live with the family trample upon her privacy and wage kitchen politics with Boju her foul-tongued grandmother. Other relatives embarrass her with their gauche village ways. And worst of all Sagar Sumnimas US-returned RJ boyfriend for whom she has been lying sneaking around and stealing money from home keeps her waiting for his phone calls. Employing a rich cast of characters The Wayward Daughter tells the story of a young girl seeking out love finding herself and her own spaces in life. Equally it draws a telling portrait of Kathmanduits class and caste divisions its cosmopolitanism which exists alongside conservative attitudes and its politics due to which a civil war looms. Written with humour empathy and skill this novel is a must-read.