Victory City

Content Warning: The section of the guide contains mentions of sexual abuse.

Victory City presents itself as a retelling of an epic poem, originally written in the 14th century by Pampa Kampana. Within the world of the fiction, the Jayaparajaya is an autobiographical story about how Pampa Kampana was infused with the spirit of a goddess, giving her magical powers that allowed her to build a city from her imagination. The opening of the story, however, introduces a very different version of Pampa. Rather than a powerful, magical woman, she is a traumatized little girl. At the age of nine, she watches her mother throw herself onto a funeral pyre after her town is destroyed in a battle. Pampa is shocked by the unfairness of the society. Women’s lives are given very little worth in comparison to men. Pampa’s trauma does not end there. After wandering alone, she is taken in by a holy man named Vidyasagar. The devout hermit sexually abuses her for years. After being emotionally destroyed by her mother’s death, Pampa is once again the victim of male violence. She emerges from her youth with a seething hatred of the patriarchal societies that would treat a young girl—or any woman—in such a way.