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A review by readingthroughinfinity
Good Indian Daughter by Ruhi Lee
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
A really interesting, compelling memoir about Ruhi Lee's childhood growing up in India and her adult life in Australia. This was incredibly readable and I flew through most of it in one sitting.
Lee candidly discusses her own mental health and the outcomes of her therapy sessions, as well as commenting body shaming, misogyny, and societal expectations of young girls and women in India. She describes how she had a happy childhood at times, but one that was frequently fraught with physical abuse and beatings at the hands of her father and body shaming by her mother.
She also explains how her decision to attend therapy because of childhood trauma (her uncle sexually abusing/assaulting her) impacted her relationship with her parents (who initially tried to pretend it hadn't happened). Many of her reflections on her earlier life are made in comparison to the childhood she wishes her daughter to have; one free of judgement and happy and safe.
Lee candidly discusses her own mental health and the outcomes of her therapy sessions, as well as commenting body shaming, misogyny, and societal expectations of young girls and women in India. She describes how she had a happy childhood at times, but one that was frequently fraught with physical abuse and beatings at the hands of her father and body shaming by her mother.
She also explains how her decision to attend therapy because of childhood trauma (her uncle sexually abusing/assaulting her) impacted her relationship with her parents (who initially tried to pretend it hadn't happened). Many of her reflections on her earlier life are made in comparison to the childhood she wishes her daughter to have; one free of judgement and happy and safe.
Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy
Minor: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Car accident