"...Jans is always hungry. Not as much as Frederick here ..."
"'Jans'? Why have you given them such strange names?" Meena asked as she stroked the boar behind its ears. He turned his head and nestled his face in her hand.
"They're Dutch names. They're the names of the former occupiers of this place," said Kiran.
"You named the boars after the Dutchmen who lived here?"
Kiran chuckled. "Something like that..." [loc. 2299]
A retelling of the story of Medea and Jason, transposed to seventeenth-century India and, later, South Africa and England. Meena is the daughter of the Nawab of Bengal. She lives in luxury and privilege, but is made miserable by her abusive brother. One day, sneaking out to the docks, she encounters James Chilcott, nephew of Sir Peter Chilcott of the East India Company. James tells Meena he has been sent to infiltrate the palace but has decided to betray his uncle's cruel plans. Will Meena help him? Flattered by his attention, and strongly attracted to this handsome Englishman, Meena arranges a meeting between James and her father, and subsequently flees with him (and with a great deal of gold). They seek help from Meena's aunt Kiran, living in exile in Ceylon: but she dislikes James and tries to warn Meena against him. Meena, though, is in love -- and pregnant -- and James has vowed that they're as good as married.
The colonial setting highlights the ways in which Meena is demonised, dehumanised, and treated, despite her royal birth, as a 'savage beast'. Even in Bengal she's abused by her male relatives: once she reaches the Cape of Good Hope, it is made very plain to her that she has no place in colonial society, much less the refined balls and shopping expeditions enjoyed by her English peers.
There were some fascinating ideas here, and the basic premise drew me in: but unfortunately I didn't feel that either Meena or James were consistently characterised. Meena in particular, though far from stupid, seemed constantly surprised by the prejudice she encountered. I couldn't reconcile her independence and strength with her continued attempts to repair her failing relationship with James. James himself seemed two-dimensional: having seduced Meena and persuaded her to leave Bengal with him, he seemed uninterested in behaving with kindness, let alone love, towards her.
I didn't find Savage Beasts as enjoyable a read as I'd hoped: knowing the myth of Medea well, I was intrigued to see how Selvarajah would explore her character and her actions, especially the later parts of the myth (see Euripides). Meena seems to have less agency than her mythological counterpart, though she does enact some of the more violent episodes, in sometimes-unexpected ways. I found the writing uneven, with some jarring phrases: Meena is 'gobsmacked' at one point, and James later accuses her of 'morose paranoia'. I found it hard to imagine Meena saying 'okay, now we can finally get to the crux of the matter'. It's not just dialogue, either: though there are some lovely descriptive passages, much of the prose is flat and repetitive.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance review copy, in exchange for this honest review. UK publication date is 25th May 2023.
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