Girls who stray

31st July 2025

In her searing, sardonic debut, Girls Who Stray, Anisha Lalwani delivers a novel that is part psychological thriller, part coming-of-age tragedy, and totally unputdownable. Set in the messy sprawl of Noida — a city that simmers with development and discontent — the novel introduces us to “A,” an unnamed 23-year-old who lingers on the brink of self-destruction, armed only with a useless degree, a potent blend of scepticism and vulnerability, and a self-awareness that cuts deeper than any external critique.

A’s voice — sharp, observant, disillusioned — carries the book. She’s the kind of character who repels and compels in equal measure, a human contradiction who masks her desperation for validation with superiority. Her return to a fractured home, with its “feeble men” and the ruins of her parents' marriage, offers no comfort. It is this existential vacuum that pulls her into an affair with a charismatic property developer — a dangerous liaison that spirals into a shocking double murder.

Anisha writes with boldness and bite, tackling themes like mental illness and class disparity; her thoughts and words are unfiltered. Her depiction of Noida is both atmospheric and scathing — a city of gleaming property deals and crumbling inner worlds. A’s internal monologue is sharp and bleakly funny, often inclining more towards dark, manic spirals that mirror the growing chaos in her external world. And yet, there’s tenderness in these pages too — in A’s moments of aching self-reflection and fragments of fragile companionship.



This is not a standard thriller with clean resolutions. The plot twists aren’t there to satisfy, but to destabilize. The author intends to refuse to moralize. She paints female agency in shades of grey — “straying” here is not simply sexual or emotional; it is existential. Women in this world don’t get to make empowered choices — they make desperate ones. And the consequences are brutal.

Girls Who Stray is a rare debut that feels quintessentially Indian and boldly experimental. It will resonate with anyone who has ever felt like a beautiful disaster in a world that rewards perfect performance. Anisha manages to give us a protagonist we may not always like, but one we understand deeply, precisely because she knows how deeply flawed she is.

Dark, dazzling, and uncomfortably true, Girls Who Stray is a gut-punch of a read about what happens when good sense leaves, and the need to feel alive takes over.