The Hope of Shridula

Seems things haven't changed much for Ashish and his family now while still working as indebted servants in India since the first book by Kay Marshall Strom, The Faith of Ashish. Now many years later, Ashish and his wife Zia have only one surviving child remaining, a young girl named Shridula and for Ashish, it provides the only outlet of hope left in the world being one of the lowest castes of people.

Deemed by the higher castes as Untouchables, Ashish's family have spent 48 years serving out their families debt which it seems will never be paid. What's even worse is the treatment of the servants among the Lal family. Those living on the land are forced to work for the son of Mammen Samuel, Boban Joseph, who has personally vowed not to be a lenient as his father. He pushes them to work in the grueling heat in which people begin dropping like flies, forces to not pay them in their rice rations unless they work harder than in previous harvests, and worst of all, pursues his growing affections for the young girls especially young Shridula.

The only defense to keep Boban Joseph at bay is the threat from the pale British woman who works at the only clinic in India tending to the sick and wounded no matter what caste of people need help. She has even offered to keep the abandoned and orphaned children who have no where else to turn. It seems however that the new Dr. William Cooper and his wife Susanna want things run differently, casting aside the Indian traditions for those more favored among the British. They even removed Miss Abigail Davidson from operating the English Mission Medical Clinic and treat her as though she is feeble, weak and too old. They even offer to have her sent to more suitable housing preferable to people of her age.

In the Hope of Shridula, the readers are thrown into the beginnings of the revolts for independence among the people of India as the teachings of Gandhi begin to circuit among the lower castes people providing them with an alternative to the years of servant hood that they have been reduced to. Once again you are given a rare look inside how difficult the lifestyles are among the people living in India and their beliefs in Karma and reincarnation while Christians struggle to provide an alternative for hope in this country in 1946.

I received this book compliments of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review and applaud the efforts once again of Kay Marshall Strom for bringing even more awareness to the plight of the people still living in India. While things are slowly improving, the struggle in the poorest areas still remains. Kay has been writing about humanitarian and justice issues and the global family of God in her books and has been to India seven times. This is the second book in the Blessings in India series and can't wait to read her next one. I highly recommend this book to once again enlighten readers to the plight of the people in India as well as other countries in the world and rate this one a 5 out of 5 stars. This book can be read as a stand alone but the impact is greater if you pick up the first one which really defines the castes in India.

For more information about this book, the author and where you can purchase a copy of this book, please click on the links below:

The Hope of Shridula by Kay Marshall Strom

You can also find Kay Marshall Strom on Facebook by clicking here.

You can read my review of The Faith of Ashish, book one in the series by clicking here.

The Faith of Ashish - Giveaway and Review

India, 1905 - A belief in not only reincarnation and karma but also in the castes. Castes reflect the social status of the people of India, and there are only 4. Hopefully you are born into the highest class, the Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Sudra. The Untouchables fell outside of the four castes. Everyone knew the outcastes to be impure, subhuman, lower than animals and rodents and insects.

This is the story of one such family born into the outcaste class. They live within a village set aside for their social class. One class can never interact with another, especially the outcastes. When Virat leaves for work each day, removing dead animals from the other areas, he is forced to strap a broom to his back, which he uses when walking the road, bending down and then walking, to sweep away his footprints, evidence that he walked there and was not worthy to walk to ground; a metal cup over his mouth to keep an Untouchable's contaminated breath off roads where high caste feet would tread; and a drum to warn members of pure high castes that a polluted, worthless one was headed their way, calling out "Untouchable coming! Untouchable coming!" This is the only time Untouchables are allowed to enter the other class areas. Their job is to remove the dead.

When his only son, Ashish follows him to work one day, he makes the mistake of crossing over the bridge to the pure high caste, the Brahmin, and though the day is hot, Ashish grows thirsty and reaches for a cup at the well. Before he finishes the cup, he is beaten within an inch of death and left at the well, punishment for polluting the water supply.

When Virat finds his son, he is moved to find help, especially when his efforts and his wife, Latha, do nothing to bring Ashish back to health. Fearing he will die, Virat makes a plea to the landowner, Mammen Samuel, whose land the well was on, to help heal his son. Since Virat doesn't have money to pay for medicine or doctors to help Ashish, Mammen Samuel is only to happy to help as long as Virat is willing to pay his debt. What he fails to realize is that debt will never be able to be paid off. Now Virat, Latha and Ashish belong as property to the landowner, who believes that what he is doing is being a great Christian man.

Ashish finds help with the English doctors at a clinic, and even though they aren't sure that they can save Ashish, the order Mammen Samuel to leave the boy in his care. Something he isn't at all willing to do. Not only that but Dr. Moore, won't release Ashish to Mammen Samuel without his parents being there. Even though Dr. Moore believes he is helping all he did, was increase the debt the family now owest to Mammen Samuel by four times the original amount. Now what will they do to save their family and be able to pay off the debt?

In the latest novel by Kay Marshall Strom, The Faith of Ashish, is heart-breaking and shocking. When you see how people were treated back in the early 1900's in India, it leaves you angry and compassionate to help those that these people believe deserve nothing except death. Death in hopes that they can come back into a higher class or at least as an animal.

I received this book compliments of Abingdon Press for my honest review and was riveted because even though I knew from history about this classes of people in the Hindu religion, reading about a life affected by this made it hard to endure, yet you have to. You, as the reader, as drawn in to know how this family will endure this situation and how it will affect the life of Ashish in the process. An unconditional love by a mother and father willing to do whatever it takes to save the life of their only remaining child and to provide a life for him. Hands down, you can not be affected and moved by this story and for that I award this novel a 5 out of 5 stars. This is one book, you won't want to miss out on!

For more information about this book, the author and where to purchase a copy of this novel, please click on the links below:

The Faith of Ashish by Kay Marshall Strom

You can also find Kay on Facebook by clicking here.

Thanks to the generosity of Abingdon Press, they are providing a giveaway copy of this novel to one lucky reader of my blog, Reviews From The Heart. Here's your guidelines:

1. Be a follower of my blog, Reviews From The Heart.

2. Be a resident of the US or have a US shipping address. Please No P.O. Boxes!

3. I need a way to contact you if you're the winner so PLEASE be sure to include your email address along with your comment of why you'd love to win a copy of this book. You can use the words (at) and (dot) instead of the symbols.

The giveaway will end on Oct 10th and I will notify the winner at that time by email.