Homeless Bird, a novel written by Gloria Whelan and published in 2000, was a New York Times Best Seller and winner of the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. Marketed to middle grade readers, the novel has elements of historical fiction in its portrayal of cultural customs in India. Homeless Bird tells the story of Koly, a 13-year-old girl whose arranged marriage leads to her untimely widowhood. Through Koly’s coming-of-age journey from helplessness to independence, Whelan explores the impacts of cultural traditions on women’s rights and identities.

This guide uses the 2008 Harper Collins e-book edition of the text. Pagination may differ from print editions.

Content Warning: Homeless Bird addresses themes of arranged marriage, widowhood, and societal oppression. It also contains descriptions of verbal and emotional abuse and of an attempted sexual assault.

Plot Summary

Koly lives in a village in India with her maa, a talented embroiderer; her baap, a scribe in the village marketplace; and her two brothers. When she’s 13, Koly’s family arranges her marriage to Hari Mehta. Her family must sell most of their belongings for her dowry. Without one, no family will agree to a marriage, and Koly’s family can’t afford for her to stay with them. Koly isn’t allowed to see Hari until their wedding ceremony. When she finally does, she realizes that her family was misled about his age and health, but it’s too late. After the wedding, Koly learns that Hari has tuberculosis and is dying. His parents want to take him to the city of Varanasi, where they hope that bathing him in the sacred Ganges River will cure him. Hari convinces them to let Koly go with them, though his sister (Chandra) will stay home.

In the days before their departure, Koly finds that her new mother-in-law—her sass—dislikes her intensely. She yells at Koly constantly and accuses her of theft. In addition, Koly finds out that Hari’s parents needed her dowry money to pay for Hari’s doctors and the trip to Varanasi. However, their long journey to that holy city leaves Hari too weak to go to the river when they arrive. The next day, he enters the water at the Temple of Vishvanath. He then develops a fever and a doctor pronounces him gravely ill. He dies the same night. After having Hari’s body cremated and his ashes spread over the Ganges, his parents and Koly return home.

Sass’s grief makes her even meaner, and the months after Hari’s death are miserable for Koly. She turns to embroidery for comfort, stitching images from her past to preserve them as memories. Koly’s father-in-law, her sassur, secretly teaches her to read and write. His book of poems by Rabindranath Tagore becomes Koly’s favorite book. She sees herself in the homeless bird that one of the poems depicts. Two years after Hari’s death, Chandra announces that she’s getting married. Koly finds out that though the government has been sending the monthly checks for her widow’s pension, Sass has been stealing them to enhance Chandra’s dowry. Koly argues with Sass but is powerless to enforce her right to the money. When Chandra goes to live with her new husband’s family after her wedding, Koly feels utterly alone and miserable.

Koly tries to earn Sass’s love—or even just some kindness—by doing all the work around the house as perfectly as possible. When this fails to change their relationship, Koly turns to the stray animals living in the area for affection. Sass’s negativity weighs on Sassur too. His work as a schoolteacher isn’t going well, and he falls into despair. He soon dies, leaving Koly alone with Sass. A letter from Sass’s brother in Delhi arrives, inviting them to live with him. Sass tells Koly that they’ll stop in the city of Vrindavan on the way to see the temples. While there, Sass gets back on the train without Koly, abandoning her.

Koly sleeps on the streets for a week, using the little money Sass gave her to buy food. She then befriends a young man named Raji, who takes her to a widow’s house that gives women like Koly shelter, food, and other assistance to help them get back on their feet. Maa Kamala, the kind, nurturing woman who runs the widow’s house, helps Koly see herself as a young woman with a life ahead of her, rather than as a widow with no remaining value, and helps Koly get a job: Koly makes marigold garlands in the marketplace alongside Tanu, another woman from Maa Kamala’s house. Tanu becomes Koly’s closest friend. The two put aside most of their earnings, hoping to afford their own place someday. In the meantime, Koly teaches Raji to read and develops a close friendship with him. Before long, though, he returns to his village to grow crops on his family’s land.

After Raji leaves, Koly meets Mr. Das, the owner of a fine sari shop. He’s impressed by her skill at embroidery and her originality. He hires Koly and pays her three times what she is making in the marketplace. Koly becomes friends with the other women who work for Mr. Das, especially a young woman near her age named Mala. When Koly attends a party at Mala’s apartment, she realizes that Mala has been stealing from Mr. Das. A man at the party becomes aggressive with Koly and slips a drug into her drink, but another partygoer helps her get home safely.

Raji returns to the city to see Koly and asks her to go back to his village with him as his wife. He doesn’t want an arranged marriage like his parents had. Koly wants to accept Raji’s proposal but is hesitant to give up her job and leave her friends from Maa Kamala’s house. She asks Raji to give her some time, and he agrees. He writes letters to her while he rebuilds the house they’ll live in together in the village. As a surprise, he builds a room just for Koly’s embroidering work. Raji’s thoughtfulness quells Koly’s doubts about the marriage. When she tells Mr. Das about her plans to marry, he offers to let her work from home and visit the city every few months to turn in her pieces and get new materials. This arrangement will give Koly plenty of opportunities to visit Tanu and her other friends. Considering the happy future in front of her, Koly feels that the homeless bird inside her has finally found its home.