BOOK REVIEW: THE FOREST OF ENCHANTMENTS by CHITRA BANERJEE DIVAKARUNI

Ramayana: A fantastic Hindu mythological tale about the journey of the righteous king Rama from being the crown prince of Ayodhya to being banished into the forest for 14years, and then waging a war against the demon king Ravan ensuring that justice prevails and spread the message of the victory of goodness over evil.

There have been innumerable stories written on the virtuous life of Shri Ram extolling his achievements and the pious way he lived his life setting an example for leaders and kings for centuries to follow.

The Forest of Enchantments by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is yet one more retelling of this great tale. However, this time the story is written from the perspective of none other than Lady Sita, daughter of King Janaka and wife of Ram.

Although Sita has always occupied the space of great importance in the Ramayana, this book is unique in the sense that here, Sita is the main protagonist and we get to understand the Ramayana from her outlook. The most distinctive feature of this book is the manner that Divakaruni uses Sita's story to explain the startling and diverse forms of LOVE and our actions-reactions to this most-desired yet the most-complicated emotion!

We all believe love to be an all-encompassing feeling that alone can make our lives picture-perfect. How wrong are we in this thought process and even Sita realized it through her trials. One gem on this emotion that caught my eye in the story is, "Love, no matter how deep wasn't enough to transform another person: how they thought, what they believed. at best, we could only change ourselves."

Divakaruni has a divine gift wherein she has the ability to beautifully portray the varied gamut of emotions faced by Sita in her tumultuous journey of life bringing alive her decisions, her judgments, her feeling of despair, her joys, her loneliness, her fear, and the deep and true love for her husband.
Being a woman, a wife, and a mother, I could relate to Sita's feeling of helplessness and her righteous anger or should I say hurt on some of her husband's decisions that may be correct from the point of view of an honest and fair leader but are biased and unfair for the wife.

Why is it that the family of a conscientious man should always be the one to pay the heaviest price? Why can a just ruler not be able to balance duty and love?
Why should be always the female who has to be the one standing beside her husband in all his decisions irrespective of whether she approves it or not?
Why is the woman who has to make sacrifices in the name of duty towards her husband?
Why is it always the woman who has to prove her innocence time and again, just for the satisfaction of the male ego?

As Sita rightly said before she leaves her life on Earth to join the otherworld that when life tests us, we women should be able to stand steadfast and think carefully with our hearts and head when to compromise and when to say NO MORE.

Through this hauntingly soulful story, Divakaruni has given a place of prominence and a voice to the otherwise silent female characters who have been unceremoniously pushed to the edges of the Ramayana: Queen Kaikeyi, Queen Kaushalya, Ahilya, Surpanakha, Queen Mandodari, and last but not the least Urmila.

This book is a true feast for all book lovers and a must-read. Pick your own copy by clicking on the link below:
https://amzn.to/2EotgMp

I want to end this post using another of Divakaruni's definition of Love that says that love is like an ocean: unfathomable, astonishing, measureless, and of course, forgiving!

BOOK REVIEW : GOOD ME BAD ME by ALI LAND

This is my first book review after almost one year - my first proper good book after almost a year. Now I am sure you must be wondering what the whole fuss about a "good book" is for!!!!!!!

In my simple terms, a good book is one which is not a mushy romance story and most importantly, one that is not free on Kindle..:)

What attracted me to this book was this intriguing title: GOOD ME BAD ME I feel that this phrase is a sum definition of all of us. We are a blend of good and bad. No one can claim to be perfect. It is not always about black or white.  It is the grey shade which holds the mystery and the answers too.

This book is a thriller written by first-time author Ali Land. She has spent a decade working as a Child and Adolescent Mental Nurse in the UK and Australia.

This story is about a mother-daughter duo. The daughter is the only witness to her mother's gruesome crimes and she takes a life-altering decision by going to the authorities against her mother.
Now the real story begins...Is it all as simple as it seems? Is the girl really a victim of her own mother's crimes or is she an accomplice who was an equal partner in all the wrongdoings or worse still, is she a gifted student who has learned it all from her teacher/ mother and is now ready to fly on her own leaving her roots behind!!!!

There is a line in the synopsis of the book which holds the key to the whole story
It goes like this :

                                "But her mother is a serial killer.
                                  And blood is thicker than water......."

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and finished it in flat 2 days...although this is nothing special as I do this with all my books....hahaha!

On an honest note, what hit me most was how the story ended. I literally had goosebumps !!!!
I would strongly recommend this book- not for its language or the depth of the story but for its pace and characterization and of course for its end!!  You can get hold of one right away by simply clicking on this link: https://amzn.to/2U7ZtgN

Happy reading till the next time!!

BOOK REVIEW : BURNT SHADOWS by KAMILA SHAMSIE

Books are my guilty pleasure. Rather they are my single, most cherished, and satisfying soul cleansing pleasure. I love escaping to the world created by the authors, be it some fairy tale or a mushy romance or an adventure or a thriller or a story which is a combination of all the love and more, full of hard-hitting events casting everlasting shadows!!! There are certain books which make you feel light and happy and full of positivity but then, there are those books which hit you hard, really hard and especially when it is least expected! It comes with a surprise, leaving you completely reeled up and experiencing sensations long after you have moved to another book!!!!
This book, THE BURNT SHADOWS is one such perfect example. It made me so emotional and sad and withdrawn in my shell, that it took days to get over that tragic melancholy!!! Nevertheless, I would rather read a book which garners such an impactful reaction from me, than a so-called light read where you can literally shut your brain off and just let it all flow!
It is very difficult to write the summary of a story of this magnitude with a scope so huge. It spans about 60 years, from the A-Bomb in Nagasaki to the partitioning of India and Pakistan, to war-torn Afghanistan and to post 9/11 America.
This is a profound and powerful novel of family, nations, and wars. If you ask me, I found two-three themes in this story to be very interesting and relatable. First of all is the power of language, not solely as the means of communication, but as a cultural and attitudinal divide.
Second of all was is how identity plays a very important role in our lives and how a sense of identity can be damaged by the horror of an atomic bomb, or by failing exams, by subterfuge, or by looking different to those around you.
Another intriguing theme which stood out was what happens when we try to be nice to others and "do good" to them without treating them as equals, resulting in far-reaching, inhumane and humiliating consequences.
 Besides all this, this book is special as it explores the wonderful ties that bind people together. The loves, the loyalties and the sense of belonging that makes up the beautiful and intricate web of our lives, the knots of which cannot be snapped by a sudden breeze or disturbance.
It is an intelligently written story wherein Shamsie has explained some of recent history’s more complex issues through a family saga.
The characters are well drawn and believable. They are shown with flaws, making mistakes that have serious consequences. Although it is these traits that make the characters more humane and relatable.
Its a good read albeit a very emotionally draining one (true for me, at least)!!

BOOK REVIEW : THE HUSBAND'S SECRET by LIANE MORIARTY

"What if" - Is this not one of our favorite expressions??? Don't we always wonder how our lives would have changed had a few "what if's" come true???
The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty is loosely based on this commonly used phrase "WHAT IF"...My dear friend Sri recommended this book to me and I needed this one after the intense book, Bridges of Constantine...I have written about Sri in one of my earlier posts too.. She is my confidant and a true book lover ( which makes me incline toward her all the more)
This story is about three women and how their seemingly perfect ordinary lives change overnight, changing the very equation of relationships!!!
Cecilia Fitzpatrick - a superwoman( seriously!!) mother of three daughters, a Tupperware consultant and an excellent homemaker comes across a letter written by her husband addressed to her, with an instruction, "To be opened after my death"... Will she open it ( while her husband is away on a business trip) or will she be able to control her curiosity and leave it unopened...And what happens if and when she reads that letter???
Cecilia's situation is just like that of Pandora who opened the box of secrets, unknowingly opening up a can of problems for mankind...In her defense all Pandora could say was, "No one ever warned me not to open it".. Poor Pandora, how was she supposed to know???
Then we have Tess, short for Teresa,  who is happily married to a wonderful person Will and has a young son named Liam...Felicity (Tess's cousin), Will and Tess run an advertising firm together...Tess thinks she is in a very happy zone but reality knocks her badly when Will and Felicity break news about their affair to her. Now how Tess reacts and what happens to her happy family is to be read....
The third female protagonist is Rachel, a mom who lost her daughter when she was murdered at a young age of 20 and the worst part is that the murderer has still not been caught!! She was heartbroken and started looking forward to life only after the birth of her grandson who is now 2+. But her life is again set to crumble as her son and daughter-in-law plan to shift base to America taking her grandson along!!
Cecilia, Tess, and Rachel, three distinct individuals, who are mere acquaintances but destiny have their lives entwined in such a manner that one person' s action has a manifold ripple-like effect in the others' lives...
Its a light read, not something that will make you think deep or make you uncomfortable about certain long-held beliefs...But it is definitely a page-turner and keeps you hooked till the very last page. This very feature says a lot about the capability and sheer brilliance of a good storyteller, which Moriarty undoubtedly is!!!
As a woman, mother and wife I could really relate to the story especially Cecilia's as I too started imagining what would I do IF I  ever find a similar letter written by Niraj!!
Interesting thought right...
The part which I thoroughly enjoyed in the book was the Epilogue... Here Moriarty writes about many What If incidents that would have changed the lives of the three central characters a full 360 degree, giving the readers a delightful visual imagining the variety of ways in which the story could have shaped and this interesting book would have ended!!!
Another reason for enjoying this book is that I am a true follower of this expression, WHAT IF... I can spend hours imagining and visualizing different scenarios of my life by permutation and combination of various WHAT IF's...My favorite one is " what if I had not taken up commerce in class 11 and had taken up English literature and then would have pursued writing as my career...Ahhhhh!! Just talking about this makes me smile... Am truly senile!!
But life is not made up of what if's nor does it wait for us to leisurely think of such inane scenarios... So here I am in my mid 30's trying my best to carve a niche with my writing!!!
Enough about me...
You all carry on with your lives and enjoy reading this book and imagining your "what if" situations.....
An excellent way to spend an idle Sunday...Bliss