The eight girls in Headshot clearly hope to escape the chaos of their lives in the ring.

Several threads of commonality tie the books together just as their origins showcase their differences.

It is the story of young lovers, Kumaresan and Saroja, who get secretly married and run away to Kumaresan’s village to start a new life. Murugan has written before about the intricate tragedies of domestic life and how they bring about the worst of our community.