Tell A Thousand Lies

A girl trapped by the colour of her skin. A politician desperate to regain power. A family ripped apart.

 

16-year-old Pullamma, with her dark skin, has resigned herself to a limited future in her remote South Indian village. For this reason, she’s obliged her old-fashioned grandmother by not doing well in school. She’s also resigned to remaining unwed. For with three girls in the family, there’s simply not enough dowry to go around.

 

Soon a wedding alliance arrives for her oldest sister—a fair-skinned beauty. There’s great rejoicing in their household. And why not? The prospective father-in-law is the right-hand man of an important politician. As Pullamma helps ready the house for the bride-viewing that precedes any arranged marriage—by washing the cow, by stringing flowers along doorways—she prays for the alliance to go through. 

 

Then something happens. Something so inconceivable, it will shape Pullamma’s future in ways she couldn’t have unimagined. 

 

Tell A Thousand Lies is a realistic exploration of how superstition and the colour of one’s skin can dictate life in rural India. Skilfully weaving themes of magical realism, political corruption, female empowerment, and fate, Rasana Atreya presents a narrative that is sometimes sassy, sometimes sombre, but ultimately unforgettable. This tale will captivate your heart and linger long after the final page is turned.


◆ Shortlisted for the Tibor Jones South Asia Prize (UK, 2012).

◆ Tell A Thousand Lies is one of our five favourite tales from India. Glam Magazine, UK (June 2014)

◆ Spellings used in this book are British/Indian.

◆ All books in this series may be read independently.