Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (4.9/5)
Introduction
Salini Vineeth’s The Tree, the Well & the Drag Queen is a lyrical, genre-blending novel that moves between folklore and contemporary realism to explore gender identity, shame, inheritance, and the cost of silence. Set against the vivid landscape of a Kerala village and later the glittering but fragile world of drag performance, the novel interweaves myth and memory in a way that feels both intimate and epic.
Through the story of a child struggling against rigid expectations of masculinity and an ancestral legend about a cursed tree and a buried secret, Vineeth crafts a narrative that is haunting, political, and deeply humane.
Summary of the Narrative
The novel opens with a lush folktale-like prologue: centuries ago, a prosperous village thrives in abundance until greed awakens an ancient force — Karivalli Chathan, a demigod whose anger becomes buried in a golden chest beneath a well. The legend of the Tree, the Seed, and the Well forms the mythic spine of the novel.
Running parallel to this ancestral narrative is the story of a sensitive boy growing up in a conservative village. From childhood, he feels more at home with the girls — dancing, singing, applying makeup — only to face humiliation and violence from his father, who insists, “You’re a boy. Stop acting like a girl.” The village playground becomes a battlefield of ridicule and the home- a space of fear.
A recurring jackfruit dream — visceral and suffocating — becomes symbolic of inherited shame and entrapment. The Tree in the dream speaks, alternately taunting and commanding. The myth begins to blur with reality.
The protagonist eventually flees to the city and reinvents himself in the world of drag performance. At Sashay Studio, under stage lights and applause, he finds a version of himself that feels true. Yet even as he builds a new life, the ancestral village, Amma’s silence, Appa’s cruelty, and the Tree’s prophecy haunt him.
When he returns home years later, the past has not loosened its grip. The factory, the farmland, the well — everything feels suspended in time. Amma, hardened by survival. Appa, still obsessed with “strength.” The Tree still watching.
The novel moves toward a reckoning: between myth and modernity, inheritance and selfhood, obedience and defiance. The question lingers — can one break free of a curse that is both cultural and familial?
The format is more novella like rather than a full novel so the characters have not been developed much. Much of the theme is outlined in a rather abstract form like an undercurrent silently flowing beneath a mighty river above. This is something very few authors can achieve and most veteran writes would play it safe and tend to rely on strong characterisation to bring out the story. However, Vineeth relies on her dream like sequences and contrasts it with the other major story that runs parallel. You have got to read it to believe that this sort of writing can actually work. A rather bold step indeed but works very well for this book because it could have gone horribly wrong and messed up the entire text quite easily too.
Strengths of the Book
A Powerful Interweaving of Folklore and Identity
One of the novel’s greatest achievements is its seamless blending of village mythology with contemporary gender politics. The legend of Karivalli Chathan and the buried chest mirrors the protagonist’s buried self. The Tree becomes more than symbol — it is history, patriarchy, and collective memory embodied.
The mythic passages are lush, almost oral in cadence, evoking ancient storytelling traditions. Yet they never feel ornamental; they deepen the emotional stakes of the present-day narrative.
Unflinching Portrayal of Gendered Violence
The scenes of childhood humiliation — being told not to sing, not to dance, not to “act like a girl” — are rendered with painful clarity. The father’s obsession with masculinity is not caricatured but shown as inherited fear. The cruelty is systemic, generational.
Moments such as the workplace humiliation over painted nails or the playground taunts are quietly devastating. Vineeth does not sensationalize trauma; she lets it accumulate in small, suffocating ways — much like the jackfruit dream itself.
Sensory, Evocative Writing
The prose is rich with texture: red sand dunes, green domes of leaves, sticky jackfruit sap, the smell of makeup rooms, cicadas at night. The writing carries both lyricism and immediacy.
Particularly striking is the recurring jackfruit imagery — sticky, sweet, choking — transforming an everyday fruit into a metaphor for inheritance, shame, and transformation.
The Drag World as Liberation
The drag performance scenes pulse with energy. Under stage lights, the protagonist feels whole. The makeup, sequined gowns, and applause contrast sharply with the suffocating village.
The city does not erase trauma, but it offers space — space to breathe, to perform, to exist without apology. These sections shimmer with possibility.
Limitations
Dense Mythological Segments
At times, the extended folklore passages — particularly the detailed origin of the Tree and the golden chest — may slow the pacing for readers more invested in the contemporary narrative. The myth requires patience.
Emotional Weight
The novel carries sustained emotional intensity. The repeated scenes of shame, fear, and confrontation may feel heavy for some readers. There are few moments of levity to offset the darkness.
However, this weight also feels intentional — reflecting the protagonist’s lived reality.
Conclusion
The Tree, the Well & the Drag Queen is a bold and layered novel about becoming — about shedding skins, defying inherited scripts, and confronting the gods we are told to fear. The only downside is that it is short. Such works deserve to be a bit longer. But maybe the writer had said all that had to be said.
It asks urgent questions:
Who decides what strength looks like?
What is buried in the wells of our families?
And what happens when the “moth” refuses to return to the flame?
Salini Vineeth has written a story that is at once intimate and mythic, political and poetic. It lingers like the scent of jackfruit in summer air — sweet, sticky, and impossible to ignore.
The Tree, the Well & the Drag Queen is a compelling and courageous read that deserves wide attention.