Phoolan Devi, Rebel Queen

A beautiful, accessible way to tell a difficult and (in the U.S.) unknown story. I had never heard of Devi, and that's a shame: she deserves to be known and celebrated.

This is a violent book, TW everything. “Violence is not the answer,” some people proclaim, but I firmly believe it is part of the answer process, often a crucially necessary one. I feel fury over the trauma inflicted on Devi and countless others like her, but my fury does nothing to prevent it from happening again and again today and tomorrow. Heroes like Devi: they help, and, more importantly, inspire others. It was cathartic to see her neutralize those who hurt her and would hurt others. We need more of that.

Finally: this graphic-novel adaptation is clearly oversimplified, with an almost infantile tone at times—perhaps to reinforce Devi's own lost innocence? In any case, this is not a book for children. Also, the adaptation is based on Devi's autobiography. There may be biases. There may be more to her story, some of it less flattering to her, some of it possibly ambiguous. Almost as if she was a real, complex human being. I still think this is worth reading: much as I love objective truth, a little hagiography is OK from time to time, and everything I've found in my followup reading tonight suggests that she was a worthy person.