Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Ratings Explanation
Violence: A local citizen tries to attack Diribani at the palace. He is stopped when the princess throws a dagger at his throat and the prince stabs him in the back. Diribani hears the ‘rattling of life’ leave the attacker. Tana finds a shack full of victims of the plague. The shack smells of death and decaying bodies. The dead, both human and animal, are burned ceremoniously. The evil governor is killed when he falls down a well and ‘bone meets stone’.

Sexual Content: A servant girl is handed from soldier to soldier as they taunt her and kiss her. When she goes limp, she is told it is her fault for not covering her face. The soldiers call her a slut. Tana admires her family’s competetor in the jewel business. She tries to save him during the plague. Diribani falls in love with the prince. She often finds him in her thoughts. The women of the palace bath in large tiled pools together as a way to clean and cool themselves.

Adult Themes: Diribani’s father has died leaving her, her mother and step sister to fend for themselves in an unfriendly world. An evil governor drugs Diribani with poppy juice and abducts her in an attempt to make her give him her jewels.

Synopsis

In a pre-colonial Indian village, Diribani, her step-sister Tana and step-mother are left on the edge of poverty.   Miraculously, both step-sisters are blessed by the  goddess Naghali-ji,  with a unique gift.  Diribani is given the gift of speaking gems and flowers while Tana is given the gift of speaking toads and snakes.  When their gifts are discovered, the girls are taken from their home for protection.  Diribani is taken to the kingdom’s palace where her jewels will be safely stored.  Tana is to live near the temple where she will be protected from the Believers and the kingdom’s evil governor who fears her snakes.  As the sisters try to discover how they can bless their people with their gifts, they also discover an enemy in the kingdom’s governor.   Because of his fear and hatred of snakes, he pays the locals for any snake skins they bring in.  This phobia interrupts the food chain and allows the rat population to explode bringing with it a deadly plague.  Because of her gift of snakes, Tana fears for her life and in disguise leaves the temple.  She discovers the evil doings of the governor and witnesses first hand the suffering and death of her people.  Tana discovers her gift can restore balance to the kingdom. Although Diribani is living at the palace, she is not protected from the evil governor’s  greed.  He secretly abducts her and drugs her with poppy juice in an attempt to steal the  jewels that have brought wealth to the kingdom.   Even in a stupor Diribani remains strong until she is rescued.    The sisters’ courage saves the kingdom and rewards them with true love.

I am a sucker for fairy tales and this one did not disappoint.  This retelling of Perrault’s original tale “The Fairies” is full of the mystery and beauty of pre-colonial India.  The setting is perfect for the romance and adventure this story takes on.   I loved the author’s use of descriptive language and introspective thoughts with the characters.  It was interesting to look at love and hate through the eyes of a different culture.