A review by kumipaul
One Part Woman by Perumal Murugan

4.0

Pretty fascinating look at the "underbelly" of societal pressure on a couple due to infertility. Everyone around them was insensitive or pushy or downright annoying and insulting because they couldn't conceive. And everyone had crazy suggestions about one ridiculous superstition or another that would guarantee to fix the problem. To me, the fertility gods and silly attempts were sadly laughable, but to our main characters, they were serious efforts to crawl out from under the ridicule. Rather than provide spoilers, suffice to say that I found it to be an exaggeration of what childless couples often endure, with the tension growing and growing like a horror novel, leading to the big ending. As for that ending, however, I wish it went on for about 2 or 3 more pages and finished differently.