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My Story, My Voice — Sita And Helen

Author : Shailee
Illustrator : Priyadarshini Banerjee

Sita and Helen. Two of mythology’s best-known ‘heroines’, famed for the epic wars fought over them in Lanka and Troy. There are endless accounts of how beautiful they were, what happened to them, and how their valiant husbands rescued them. But what do we really know of the women themselves? What did they think? How did they feel? Listen now to their own stories, in their own voices…

Shailee imaginatively constructs their hidden sides by interrupting the patriarchal frameworks of their traditional narratives and filling in the gaps where there was silence before.  Rich, detailed illustrations of this graphic novel published by Tulika Books augment text and theme to represent these stories with an alternative perspective for young people of today.

Launched in India in June 2023, the book received its international debut at the Read Quebec Book Fair, Montreal in November 2023. The first draft was developed during the final project of a ‘Public Scholarship’ seminar led by Dr. Paul Yachnin in 2022 at McGill University.

Book Trailer

Book Talk with Shailee

Reader Reviews

“Princess love is hard to overcome at a young age for pretty girls. And books like this help mothers like me show their daughters the reality behind the beautiful face.”

Vichitra Dureja (@vichitra.dureja)

“I must say that the book is innovative. I mean who would have thought of a link between Sita and Helen!”

Jacob Zachariah

“Books like ‘Sita and Helen’ are important books to understand the vilification of women in mythology.”

Shwetha Kalyanasundaram (@the_literary_bookwormen)

“As I read the book, I couldn’t help but question my own acceptance of their stories and my narration of them with emphasis on the brave deeds of the men. This is what a powerful book does.”

Joanne Saldanha, Educator (@mythaunty)

“A very eye-catching, must-read book for young girls of this generation.”

Priya, Children’s Book Reviewer (@read.speak.grow)

“Wonderful book!…I learnt that too much beauty can be a curse, we should learn to protect ourselves, (and) forming strong allies always helps.”

Harnoor, 7 years old