The human drama captured in this memoir is nothing short of amazing—a young woman's struggle between the two worlds of her existence. Saved by her grandmother from being killed at birth for being a female, and abandoned by her mother at a young age, Shilpa faces the formidable constraints placed on her by her family and the village elders.
The values with which she is being brought up in a school for poor children started by a philanthropist come in conflict with those of her family, tearing each other apart. Just when all seems settled, an unforeseen death under mysterious circumstances shatters whatever stability remains in her life.
Pulled in opposite directions, and torn between despair and dreams, Shilpa finally makes a choice for her escape. But is she strong enough to stand up to the people she loves, and pursue what she wants?
At its heart The Elephant Chaser's Daughter is about hope, when all seems lost. Written with raw honesty and grit, this is a deeply moving memoir of a young woman confronting her "untouchable" status in a caste-based society, and her aspirations for a good future.
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Shilpa Raj believes now that from the beginning she was destined to take a different path. At sixteen, her need for self-discovery drove her to begin writing. Shilpa completed high school with distinction in 2011 and received a master’s degree in psychological counseling.
Deepti Gupta, fluent in Hindi, Urdu, and English, has an international career spread across India, Singapore, Pakistan, and the United States. As a narrator she brings an open and curious perspective to the author’s work. As an actress she has earned praise from the New York Times for her performance in the feature film Walkaway and also stars in Record/Play (a sci-fi love story) which was an official selection at Sundance 2013.