Book Review: Girls Who Stray by Anisha Lalvani

Namrata reviews Anisha Lalvani’s debut novel Girls Who Stray (Bloomsbury India, 2024) calling it a testament to the strength and complexity of women’s voices.

Girls Who Stray by Anisha Lalvani is a striking, genre-bending debut that melds a coming-of-age narrative with the intrigue of a thriller. Set against the backdrop of Noida’s hypermodern chaos and its stark inequalities, the novel follows the unnamed protagonist referred to only as “A”, as she navigates the unraveling of her family and the disarray of her own life. At just 23, A returns from an undistinguished British university with a degree of little practical use and finds herself ensnared in a web of discontent, alienation, and poor decisions.

The cover of Girls Who Stray is sharp and striking, made in bright colors with the picture of a woman staring directly at the reader. The pixelated, glitch-like effect adds an eerie, disjointed quality, making the cover haunting and perfectly reflective of the novel’s themes of identity and fragmentation. The title Girls Who Stray is a powerful reflection of the societal judgment imposed on women who deviate from prescribed norms. It captures the stigma and scrutiny faced by those who dare to make unconventional choices—whether in love, ambition, or identity. By using the word stray, Lalvani highlights how nonconformity in women is often equated with rebellion, inviting both censure and curiosity.