The Blade of Grass

The Blade of Grass is divided into four parts: each describes a period of Tamara's life, starting from the age of seven in 1962, and ending in 2011. The traveller Tamara started this journey as a little girl, born with cerebral palsy and taken to an orphanage; she suffered and learned a lot during her voyage through life. Eventually, after much fighting. she reached the light.

The first two parts of The Blade of Grass are told from the child's point of view. The reader knows that the text is written by an adult author, but perceives the voice of a disabled girl who is an observant and insightful narrator. The suffering child can be seen as a symbol which reveals the cruelty of our imperfect world towards disabled people. Tamara endured shocking treatment, neglect and an erroneous, monstrous misdiagnosis which essentially imprisoned her for sixteen years in a lunatic asylum; she also educated herself and made lifelong friends.