1. THE BOOK AS AN OBJECT
1.1. The cover: Dark background, just picture of Durga, colors match with atmosphere/ red title= blood/dense atmosphere=crime, mystery,drama=plot
1.2. Title in the middle= caught attention, red/ Tag line=white/ Spine=publisher logo, author name and title/ Back-cover= blurb, book revie, bar code and book number
1.3. Book published January 2010
2. THE AUTHOR
2.1. Kishwar Desai
2.1.1. 1 December 1956 (age 60) Ambala, Punjab, India.
2.1.2. Before writing books= journalist now known in India since 2010
2.1.3. Remembered book= Witness the Night translated 25 different languages
2.1.4. Predicted topic: Female foeticide, women power
2.1.5. Other books: Origins of Love, The Sea of Innocence,
3. THE CONTENTS
3.1. Genre: Fiction and mystery
3.2. Plot
3.2.1. Exposition
3.2.1.1. Atwal family murder= Durga Atwalin jail=culprit?= Simran Singh social worker
3.2.2. Rising action
3.2.2.1. Durga's sister disappearance=Sharda history=family Atwal's secrets
3.2.3. Climax
3.2.3.1. Sharda might be alive= resolution murderers= Harpreet suspicious
3.2.4. Falling action
3.2.4.1. Durga missing?= Sharda alive & insane= Harpreet=culprit= love crime= Durga manipulated
3.2.5. Resolution
3.2.5.1. Durga released= lives with Simran
3.3. Characters
3.3.1. Simran: 45 years old=smokes,drink beer. Controlling person,courageous. "Perhaps I like to live dangerously, but this addiction risk was hopeless"
3.3.2. Durga: 13 years old,=has not been understood by society =gives impression fragility=abuse. "...she sits down, anxious not to be noticed(...) she gives an impression of fragility, further enhanced by her meek demeanor"
3.3.2.1. Main characters: Simran Singh, Durga Atwal, Brinda(Binny) Atwal, Sharda Atwal
3.3.2.2. Secondary characters: Ramnath Singh, Manubhai, Amarjit, Gurnit Singh, Harpreet
3.3.3. Ramnath: presence = impose power authority. "(...) the slight man with suspiciously black hair combed right across his bald pale"
3.3.4. Gurmit Singhis: reporter against the unequal society . "A tall, serious-looking boy with a blue turban and a dark straggly beard"
3.4. The story takes place = Jullundur. Starts 2007 - ends 2008. Jullundur= tradition = oldest city in Punjab and oldest city in India.(Quora) Traditional = close mind. Appearances most important= mentality retrograded.
4. MEANING
4.1. Kishwar Desai=not difficult words=transmits messages thought books=message clear and direct. Way she expose women's difficulties."Trying to be a girl is not easy". "You are showing extreme prejudice towards a young woman and there are three witnesses to it.."
4.1.1. Point of view intern= Simran "Even after so many years of working with juvenile crime, I am still taken aback with yhe desire of revenge" or Durga's "After so many years apart I will reunited with my sister, my mother, my lover...Sharda"
4.1.2. The tones more used : angry & defensive. "The desire of revenge and uncontrollable rage which children can suffer from"
4.1.3. The type language = most of the time colloquial "shit" "fucking" "chums"