The Laugh of the Goddesses (A Novel)

A dark tale of revenge, lust, power, and motherhood set against a reincarnation plot that rises out of the dark corners of modern India.

In a dark alley in a small town in northern India live Veena, her ten-year-old daughter, Chinti, and their many companions—women who work as prostitutes in the town’s shadowy demimonde. Veena is daughter to every woman here. But no one cares for her quite as much as Sadhana, who lives apart with the other hijras—shunned and feared because they were born in the bodies of men.

Shivnath, a local godman (and habitué of the alleys), becomes obsessed with Chinti and kidnaps her, claiming that she is a reincarnation of the goddess Kali and taking her away to the holy city of Benares. But Veena, Sadhana, and a host of the women from the alley set out in pursuit of them, desperate to save Chinti and enact their murderous revenge on the fraudulent guru. But will they arrive in time to prevent him from executing his odious plan?

In The Laugh of the Goddesses, Ananda Devi has created a complex tale that explores with burning urgency questions around the place of women and hijras in Indian society, the tyranny of men, the madness of faith, maternal love, and the bonds of sisterhood. With her incisive and poetic style, she breaks the silence of the gods and raises a battle cry for all women—letting the laughter of the goddesses ring out.