A Rag Doll after my Heart

First published in 1966 by award-winning Marathi writer Anuradha Vaidya, A Ragdoll for My Heart is a unique free verse novella now making its English debut [?]. The lyrical work, translated by Shruti Nargundkar, tells an age-old story: that of a woman’s longing for a daughter and the relationship they subsequently come to share. The story traces a mother-daughter relationship that begins first with unquestioning love and over time transforms into one of distance and tension.

Setting out life as a game with predetermined moves and rules that are meant to be twisted or negotiated, Vaidya deftly engages readers in a playful connecting of the dots, drawing us deeper and deeper into the lives of the characters. She employs beautiful allegorical imagery on each page of the poetic narrative and makes many allusions to life as a game played on the board of the globe—complete with her characters who act as pawns in the sprawling world of the narrative.