The novel is inspired by real-life stories Aruni encountered as a journalist traveling across rural Sri Lanka — particularly within the tea estate communities, where generations of Tamil families brought from India during British colonial rule still face systemic marginalization. Even today, many children in these regions are denied access to education, healthcare, and safety, despite their quiet longing for a better life. In Rasthiyadukara Cinderella, Aruni gives these hidden voices space on the page — exploring deeply rooted issues like child pregnancy, domestic abuse, alcoholism, cultural erasure, and the invisible labor of girls who are taught to survive, not dream.
Told in a raw, first-person voice, the novel captures Cinderella’s escape from the estate and her search for freedom in the city of Colombo. There, she confronts class hypocrisy, fractured identity, and a society that refuses to see her. Yet even through heartbreak, Cinderella continues to question, observe, and rise — not as a victim, but as a quiet force of resistance. First serialized in a national youth newspaper for readers aged 16 to 23, the novel quickly became a national bestseller and led to Aruni being invited to represent Sri Lanka at the SAARC Writers and Literature Festival in India.
Rasthiyadukara Cinderella is more than a novel — it’s a social portrait painted with empathy and fire. It challenges readers to look beyond privilege and ask: what happens when a girl is born into silence, but refuses to stay quiet? For anyone who believes in the transformative power of fiction, this is a story that stays with you — tender, unsettling, and utterly real.
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