Kamada, whose mother, Tara, is a prostitute solicited by wealthy men in Mumbai, prefers to live in her own world of magic, where her imagination shields her from her reality. She is on a mission to escape the streets of the city and her mother’s house, which feels like a prison. Only her magical friends, a parrot astrologer who tells of the future and a neighbouring family know that her dream is to leave home to study in America, for which she has been conscientiously making arrangements studying for the GRE, collecting all the necessary documents and taking care of the finances. As she plans her escape, the 16-year-old’s world is turned upside down when her mother reveals a secret, adding to the many upheavals already assailing her teenage mind. Will her dream and the future she envisages for herself in a faraway land come true?

Praise for The Prostitute’s Daughter

While reading this book, I was wishing I could reach out to Kamada and tell her that everything will be okay in the end. A lovely bit of writing. Maria Goretti (author, food blogger and former MTV VJ)

(Kamada’s) means of escape is the blue folder she carries everywhere. She also escapes via her own imagination, which conjures fantasy creatures everywhere, animates the fruits at vending stalls and lends voices to the city’s potholes. It’s this overlay of fantasy, always evocatively but matter-of-factly interwoven with the real-world narrative, that lends the book its greatest charm. The sheer manic detail of it all speaks eloquently of Kamada’s fever-pitch desperation for a new life, and its resolution at the book’s end is touchingly bittersweet. An extremely memorable and winning tale of the perseverance dreams require. Kirkus Reviews

Juliet Philip loves magic, white feathers, faeries, wine, the sound of the rain, glowworms, ponies, majestic elephants, fresh coffee, dance, waterfalls, castles (both real and in the air), rainbows, blowing bubbles, deep belly laughs, the smell of wet earth, and creating things. She likes to make books, drawings, doodles, banana bread, fish curry in coconut milk, silly randomness, magic, and connections with people and the universe. Her stories are based in enchanting India because she grew up there.

Talking Points

• A heartwarming tale about making dreams come true
• Evocative of a teenager’s struggle in trying circumstances
• A moving portrayal of unlikely friendships and escapist imaginations
• Worldwide readership/market
• Lovers of young adult and general fiction, commercial fiction readers, general-trade readers.