What did you think of the "small-town" politics at play and how they affected Geeta's life in the five years before the novel opens?

At the very beginning of the novel, we learn that Geeta feels ostracized and isolated by her village because of the rumors surrounding her husband's disappearance. What did you think of the "small-town" politics at play and how they affected Geeta's life in the five years before the novel opens? How do you think those same politics continued to affect Geeta and the other women over the course of the novel?

In any small town- and I would venture to say in any country- the knowledge of everyone's business along with the legal and social guidelines of behavior can be suffocating. Geeta's "suffocation" is also monetary at one point. Despite trying to earn money by making jewelry, brides initially shun her necklaces, fearing that rumors of Geeta's self-made widowhood will afflict their future happiness. Things shift when people begin to fear what will happen if they don't show some respect towards her. The politics continue to affect the women because it is a balancing act to be feared but respected versus having fear turn into hatred strong enough to motivate others to kill the object of their hate. However, there is also the cultural politics and poverty, the need for families to get their daughters wed so that they have one less mouth to feed. Sadly, the extreme poverty means there aren't dowrys to attract quality suitors, and young pre-teens are wed off to old men. And even when married, there are acts of betrayal such as Ramesh telling the village how poorly Geeta's father had handled money, reminding everyone he'd married without a dowry.

I agree with Rebeccar. Everyone knows everyone else’s business in a small town and for every incident there is the public story and “what really happened” whether it did or not provided by gossip. Poor Geeta didn’t have a chance. If her husband left her, it must have been because she was a bad wife and if she killed him, she was not only a bad wife but also a murderer. All the women knew the men of the village controlled the narrative. One of the reasons for sticking together.

BOth Rebeccar and janeb make excellent points. In small towns, rumor can be "queen," and the accuracy of the information doesn't matter much. Additionally, local cultural rules -- who's in charge, why and how things are done--can be stifling if one is operating outside of the prevailing social rules. Throughout the book , various characters Geeta because of her husband's absence and the rumors about what happened to him, Khushi because of her caste, suffered because of the small-mindedness of the small closed community in which they lived.

Not much more I can add as I total agree with laurap and others

Small towns are similar everywhere - everyone is interested in everyone else's business, and the gossip network is busy.

Greta was not in a position to move to a new place and get a fresh start. She was forced to endure the villagers’ opinions and live within the constraints they imposed.

Having grown up in and living in small rural towns my entire life, there are good and bad things about them. The gossip and everyone being in everyone's business are the negative. Yet that curiosity can also be a positive; people truly care about and get to know their neighbors. They rally around fell citizens are having a tough time. But the gossip can be cruel and overwhelming, also.

Small towns, villages, everyone knows everyone else and they think they know exactly what goes on - whether they really do or not. Gossip is horrendous. Geeta just had to ignore the gossip and go on with her life as best she could, she had no way of leaving that village. And I think Geeta did a fairly good job of ignoring most of it because she was taken aback by learning that they thought she killed her husband.