Midnight's Daughter, (Paperback)

<strong><em>The country was free. Its daughters were not.</em></strong><p>"<strong>A thoroughly satisfying account of one spirited woman</strong>." Molly Giles, author of <em>Life Span</em>, a memoir in flash</p><p>On Republic Day, 1960, young Aruna stands before her middle school classmates delivering a speech in a newly independent India. At home awaits a family full of promise: a fiercely intelligent mother pursuing her BA, a playful younger brother, and a father who encourages his daughter to find her voice, echoing Jawaharlal Nehru's words spoken at India's independence: <em>"At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom."</em></p><p>But beneath the surface, the family is quietly unraveling.</p><p>When Aruna is thirteen, her mother suffers a devastating nervous breakdown, forcing Aruna into the role of caretaker while she continues to excel academically. Pressured by societal expectations, she enters an arranged marriage that soon turns disastrous.</p><p>Determined to reclaim her future, she escapes to graduate school in Berkeley, endures the stigma of divorce, and eventually falls in love with an Englishman living in New Zealand.</p><p>Crossing continents and cultures, Sarvate traces one woman's search for identity, belonging, and freedom. <em>Midnight's Daughter</em> is both an intimate personal story and a powerful meditation on racism, colonialism, motherhood, and the patriarchal forces surrounding women's lives-including the hidden roots of her mother's mental illness.</p><p>Named after a freedom fighter, Aruna must ultimately fight for her own liberation in this deeply moving memoir of resilience, love, and self-discovery.</p>

• Midnight's Daughter, (Paperback)
• Author: Sarita Sarvate
• ISBN: 9783988322838
• Format: Paperback
• Publication Date: 2026-09-22
• Page Count: 316