Seto Dharti by Amar Neupane

A novel based on the story of the life of a nine year old child widow, Seto Dharti is written by a young Nepali novelist Amar Neupane. One of the most successful books in Nepali literature, Seto Dharti also won the most prestigious literary award, Madan Puraskar, in the year 2068 BS. The book is successful in presenting the painful story of the child widow Tara. Her life and the difficulties she experience in her journey of life is beautifully portrayed in the book.



This three hundred and ninety pages book will not let you get bored because of its length as the story, so beautifully written, keeps you hooked to it until the very end. The central character of the novel, as you can guess by now, is Tara, a nine year old widow who was married at the age of seven. The little girl who doesn’t even know the meaning of marriage or death has been widowed at such a young age and is forced to live with the humiliation and discrimination of the society towards the widow at such a young age.

seto dharti

The book received praise not only from its readers but also from critics giving the book a good review within a short period of time. It is amazing how the writer being born as a male in a traditional and male dominated society of Nepal was capable of speaking about the hardships and feelings experienced by a widowed woman. This only proves the imaginary and creative talent of the writer who, although being a male, was able to observe and understand the discrimination, hardships and the emotions of the widows in our country which is usually overlooked by most of the people including females.

The book that has been successful in portraying the painful and hard life of a young widow, Seto Dharti by Amar Neupane is a must-read.