Small Acts of Freedom

Small Acts of Freedom is a 2018 Indian memoir written by activist Gurmehar Kaur and released by Penguin Random House.[1][2] It tells the story of Kaur whose father had been killed during the Kargil War, and the story of three generations of women in her family including her grandmother Amarjeet, her mother Raji, and Kaur herself.[3] Kaur wrote the books during her final year of college.[4]

Small Acts of Freedom
First edition
AuthorGurmehar Kaur
CountryIndia
LanguageEnglish
GenreMemoir
PublisherPenguin Random House
Publication date
2018
Media typePrint (paperback, hardback)
Pages234
ISBN9780143442318

Reception

Radhika Santhanam of The Hindu wrote: "It’s a speedy read. The language is simple and straightforward and the writing comes from the heart."[5] Taruni Kumar of Firstpost wrote: "Kaur’s story-telling is simple but taps into a rich vein of emotionality."[6] Rekha Dixit of The Week felt that the book is "written without melodrama, stripped of flourish." She however, felt that some parts were pretentious.[7] A review carried by The Free Press Journal said, "A touching story is one that lingers with you long after you have read it and the book has found a place on the shelf."[8]

Adrija Bose of News18 called it "poignant and leaves you with a lump in your throat once in a while." Further noting that Kaur "manages to beautifully weave together the stories of mothers, wives and daughters of the men in the armed forces."[9] Aditya Sudarshan of Open called it "a self-indulgent book, oriented towards winning the author friends and fans, not towards helping the reader with anything."[10] Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan of The Hindu Business Line said that "you won’t be able to stop thinking about it anyway" and called it an "intensely personal book."[11] John Cheeran of The Times of India called it "a beautiful book, and it can be read at many different levels, it is a book for children; it is a book for women, and it is a book for men; and it is also a book for the bigoted."[12]

References
  1. Bahuguna, Urvashi (13 February 2018). "'Just by being this person very loudly, I am breaking down hierarchies': Gurmehar Kaur". Scroll.in. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  2. "Gurmehar Kaur's 'Small Acts of Freedom' to be published soon". The Times of India. 23 May 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  3. Bhandara, Neville (8 February 2018). "Gurmehar Kaur doesn't care if you think she's anti-national". Elle (India). Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  4. Badhwar, Natasha (5 January 2018). "Gurmehar Kaur's act of freedom". Mint. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  5. Santhanam, Radhika (20 January 2018). "Small Acts of Freedom review: Memories and reality". The Hindu. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  6. Kumar, Taruni (24 January 2018). "In Small Acts of Freedom, Gurmehar Kaur poignantly weaves together stories of her family, identity". Firstpost. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  7. Dixit, Rekha (11 March 2018). "Inner Kaur". The Week. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  8. "Small Acts of Freedom by Gurmehar Kaur: Review". The Free Press Journal. 3 June 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  9. Bose, Adrija (22 January 2018). "Gurmehar Kaur's Book Tells Us The Story Of Three Generations of Women And Their 'Freedom'". News18. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  10. Sudarshan, Aditya (9 March 2019). "Family Trivia". Open. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  11. "Little full lives". The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  12. Cheeran, John (19 February 2018). "Why we need to celebrate Small Acts of Freedom". The Times of India. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
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