In narrating the Maria story, Vatsala Mendonca, in the tradition of Margaret Atwood's A Handmaiden's Tale, Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street and Arundathi Roy's The God of Small Things, places the protagonist challenges within the context of class and caste and religious and, most of all, patriarchal conflicts and ultimately finds strength and hope, inspiring readers to pursue their dreams and carve their own paths.