Roar

LoveReading Says

October 2025 Book of the Month

What an apt title for this stunning new verse novel from the multi award-winning Manjeet Mann! This is undoubtedly a book which roars; the author’s shock, passion and outrage can be felt in every beautifully placed word.

In the author’s note at the end of the book, she recounts her horror upon coming across a UN report about the rise of witch- hunting in India, with more than 2500 acts of violence associated with it since the year 2000. What was even worse, was to discover that almost all the victims were lower caste, continuing the systemic oppression that they have faced for centuries. Also systemic is the treatment of women more generally and she was inspired by the real-life story of Sampat Pal and her pink sari wearing gang fighting for justice for abused women and of Phoolan Devi, India’s ‘Bandit Queen’ who became an MP.

All these important threads weave into the remarkable story of Rizu, born to privilege in Delhi, who has an accusation of witchcraft concocted by her previous best friend Sonu, over boyfriend issues. With Rizu’s life in danger, her father fatally shifts the blame to Jaya, Rizu’s gentle servant companion. Rizu cannot live with the guilt of witnessing Jaya’s death.

Empowered by ghostly ancestral voices and ancient myth, she runs away and joins a vigilante group of women and her search for justice becomes ever more violent until she eventually repents and looks for a more positive way forward. She discovers her old enemy Sonu has also dramatically changed her life in response to the tragedy of Jana and together they start cooperating in building schools for the poorest children.

The novel ends with an empowering epilogue poem which is an encouragement to us all to change the world ‘because even the smallest ripple can become a wave and every whisper a roar’ This novel is such a powerful advocation of standing up to oppression that it cannot help but leave a lasting impression on the reader.

Joy Court

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