Renditions of My Soul

To Madé, a Balinese girl who was brought up in the patriarchal tradition, a man's right to rule his wife's life is without limit. She grew up in a family where her father was a rule unto himself. Madé blames herself for the death of her first love, who dies in a motorcycle accident. Her initial experience of marriage is a 'face-saving' arrangement, forced upon her by her father. She becomes a captive with no rights, and a victim of abuse. It is only her stubborn will that enables her to rise above her situation and escape her renditions, running away to live abroad. Through sheer hard work and determination she attains a good education and builds a career, while bringing up her children. But the bad luck in love continues, and she returns home to Bali to seek resolution of her family problems.
Home on her island that everybody considers to be paradise, bad karma is accepted as retribution for ill deeds. Refusing to accept her fate, she feels like a stranger, and it is only in accepting her fears and writing about her experiences, delving back into her childhood spiritual beliefs, that she finds a way to rise above a life that seems torn by terrible twists of fate.