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.