What happens when two young girls find themselves in a family where they can't dream or think freely? The Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins says where there is a will there is a way

Being soft is not being weak. Every female character of Mitali Perkins' new book The Secret Keeper proves it.
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A story set in Kolkata in the 70s, the book takes us through the lives of two young girls Reet and Asha, who arrive in the City of Joy from Delhi with their mother after their father leaves for New York in search of a job.



The Indian economic condition of the period and disparities existing in the Bengali community in Calcutta and New Delhi are taken as the backdrop. For both girls Kolkata turns out to be a cultural shock.

Through small day to day activities, Perkins brings out the conservatism that prevailed in middle-class Bengali families when it came to women.

At that time, Kolkata (then Calcutta) was undergoing a transition and the Bengali intelligentsia was caught in the crossfire of aping the West and maintaining the Eastern tradition.

And Perkins successfully captures it. However that does not deter Perkin's women from following their hearts and minds.

Even Osh's love for the neighbour Jay is innocent but is strong and somewhere sacrificial. Subtle yet poignant Osh's diary is the most interesting aspect of the book and shows what it was to be an ambitious woman in the 1970s Kolkata.
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The Secret Keeper is not a book that would satisfy a literary quest but with lucid language and a free-flowing narrative, it surely makes for an enjoyable read.

In an email interview with The Guide, Perkins shares why despite growing up in places like Ghana, Cameroon, London, Mexico and California, she wanted to tell the story of Osh and Reet set in Calcutta.