Custody by Manju Kapur
by Dina Patel
Manju Kapur is no stranger to the politics of arranged marriages, infertility and infidelity. Her first novel Difficult Daughters and all her succeeding works convey her extensive awareness of social hypocrisies. With her dialogue driven narrative, Kapur allows a greater perception into the families she writes about, uncovering keen insights into human weakness.
In her new novel Custody, Kapur explores a woman’s role in domestic relationships through two protagonists, Shagun and Ishita. The novel encompasses Shagun’s affair, the consequential breakdown of her marriage and the custody battle for her two children. Intertwined with this focal story is Ishita’s battle with infertility, and the often counterproductive and dated interference of their parents.
As Custody progresses, Kapur focuses on the consequences of divorce, infidelity and infertility rather than the causes. The reason behind Ishita’s infertility is only briefly mentioned: Kapur chooses instead to concentrate on how Ishita’s infertility affects her social standing and her well-being. Whilst Shagun’s affair at times appears clichéd, her consequential struggle to claim her children is genuine and the real focus of the novel.
Kapur uses familial archetypes to address larger issues affecting society as a whole. She makes clear that Shagun’s difficult fight for custody is not unique, and uses Ishita’s struggles to highlight how prevalent negative attitudes are towards infertile woman. But despite her depiction of the pain and turmoil Shagun and Ishita experience, Kapur does not make each character wholly sympathetic. Shagun’s children become pawns in her desperate bid to gain a divorce. Although Ishita is a victim of elements beyond her control, she too displays radical behaviour in her bid to help Shagun’s ex-husband Rahman keep his daughter.
Divorce, Kapur implies, is a complicated process. Fighting for custody can bring out destructive traits even in a previously admirable character.
From the very first page Custody is filled with anguish and conflict. Often a hard read, and by no means a hopeful tale, the novel nonetheless reflects the difficult reality of divorce when children are involved.
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