Book Review-A house without windows

A House Without Windows
Author- Nadia Hashimi
Publisher- Harper Collins
Format- Paperback
M.Ṛ.P- 499
No. of pages- 414

This fiction novel is written by Nadia Hashimi, a paediatrician by profession, yet her words are so heartfelt and spellbounding. The story revolves around an afghan village where a husband is murdered by his wife which further illuminates the traditional culture of the country, life in a women’s prison known as Chil Mahtab in Kabul and the secrets and struggles of a multigenerational family.

Who is Zeba?
A daughter, in a family where the father left one day unannounced leaving behind his wife and two children. The mother convinced her little children that their father had gone to participate in the war yet in her heart she knew he left her and was somewhere alive.

Who is Zeba?
A sister, who looked up to her brother to save her from the perilous world always and forever still she is distanced from him due to her husband's behaviour.

Who is Zeba?
A wife, facing the atrocities by her husband for years who just killed him one day to protect her honour and of someone else. A woman who in her sane mind accepted her crime and went to the prison where she finally felt ‘free’.

Who is Zeba?
A mother, protecting her four children from the demon called society. A patient woman who without uttering a word goes to the prison leaving them behind with her husband's family. Her children knowing that their mother could not have done such heinous crime but unaware of exact circumstances.

Who is Zeba?
A friend, named as the famous Mallika Zeba in the prison by her fellow inmates who felt grateful to whatever she did for them before being sentenced for the murder.

And then there comes Yusuf, an Afghan born-American raised lawyer who takes up Zeba's case knowing that it's a dead end but not losing hope till the end.
Read this mystery filled haunting tale and it will transform the power of your reading grabbing attention to every single page.

Rating- 4.5/5

Signing off!
©Auldrin❤

Book Review-The Colours of Passion

The Colours of Passion

Author- Sourabh Mukherjee

Publisher- Readomania

Format- Paperback

M.R.P- 250

No. of pages- 237

This is my first book reading of the author Sourabh Mukherjee. Well it's a common act by any reader to check out stuff of the writers belonging to their same region, but staying in Kolkata this book will make you imagine the streets as the story goes along. Thanks to Amazon and WritersMelon for this review copy.

It's a murder mystery filled love story which caught me by surprise for the way the author designed its plot. Intriguing with so many characters there was a movie running in my eyes with every single word I read. It includes some bitter truths about our film industry, the rumours we hear from media about spat between actors, love affairs, flings, personally I feel there is a certain amount of truth hidden in them. Yes, the media surely exaggerates any incident but that is what attracts us to read the article or interview etc in the first place. There is depiction of the social behaviour of a lover facing social stigma in the societies of our incredible country.

The story starts with the headlines of murder mystery of an actress after being brutally raped leading into an police investigation with a leading detective into such diversity of suspects all being equally important. It amazes me how the author could think of such variety of plots, then interlinking them well enough to give goosebumps to his curious readers. After that it moves on to another actor's suicide cum homicide, such murders one after another will indeed give you an adrenaline rush while you read it towards the end. No matter how much I guessed the outcome yet the author took me by surprise with such an unexpected finish. The beginning hitted off great, the in-between storyline got pretty much mundane but it had a fantastic end and I would suggest you to surely check it out, especially those looking for crime mystery/thriller with Indian touch.

A wonderful thriller piece by Sourabh Mukherjee making me greedy to read more of his suspense detective novel.

From the book-

“Sometimes the deepest of the wounds need the simplest of words to heal.”

“In a split second, I pushed him. Off the edge of that balcony. And I watched him fall to sleep, to eternal peace that his tormented soul demanded.”

Rating- 4/5

Happy reading fellas!

©Auldrin❤

Book Review-Milk and Honey

Milk and honey

Author- Rupi Kaur

Publisher- Andrews McMeel Publishing

Format- Paperback

M.R.P- 499

No. of pages- 208

Milk and Honey is an anthology written by a young prolific writer, Rupi Kaur. A collection of poetry, prose, and hand-drawn illustrations, the book has four chapters dealing with four common issues developing in a young mind. These are titled as "the hurting", "the loving", "the breaking", and "the healing". The author designed the book from cover to cover, illustrating pictures that were woven in with her words.

The hurting describes different emotions of a female mind and body, about the silence a girl learns from her mother, the inappropriate touch by the males and the pain of a heaving chest radiating to down there.

The loving expresses the unconditional love of a mother who gives her everything (mind, body, soul) in bringing a new life into this world. The loving shows the passion of a couple which lays hidden during an argument but emerges out erotically on making up.

The breaking will capture your mind, the wilting love will make you travel back to all those relationships where you forgot to breathe and the words will help you find solace no matter it all ended. Eventually it will leave you with a smile and praise for the author.

The healing will teach you to believe first in your own self because that is the moment when you rehabilitate back into the world, your heart mends slowly, your mind feels healthy and you feel blissful.

From the book-

• the thing about having

       an alcoholic parent

       is an alcoholic parent

       does not exist

       simply

       an alcoholic

       who could not stay sober

        long enough to raise their kids (39)

• what am i to you he asks

       i put my hands in his lap

       and whisper you

       are every hope

       i’ve ever had

       in human form (49)

• the very thought of you

       has my legs spread apart

       like an easel with a canvas

       begging for art (57)

• you might not have been my first love

       but you were the love that made

       all the other loves

       irrelevant (63)

• it wasn't you i was kissing

       - don't be mistaken

       it was him on my mind

       your lips were just convenient (113)

• i don't know why

       i split myself open

       for others knowing

       sewing myself up

       hurts this much

       afterward (125)

• perhaps the saddest of all

      are those who live waiting

      for someone they're not

      sure exists

      - 7 billion people (157)

• for you to see beauty here

      does not mean

      there is beauty in me

      it means there is beauty rooted

      so deep within you

      you can't help but

      see it everywhere (192)

These are just a few words I shared here but there is a whole new world in the book. Take your favourite cup of tea/coffee and go on read it!

Rating- 4.5/5

I have the beautiful rains waiting for me by the window.

Sayonara!

-©Auldrin❤

Book Review-The Liberation of Sita

The Liberation of Sita
Author- Volga (Popuri Lalitha Kumari)
Publisher- Harper Collins India
Format- Paperback
M.R.P- 199
No. of pages- 132

Our childhood mythologies include the very famous Valmiki’s Ramayana, the fourteen years of exile & return to Ayodhya of Lord Rama, his wife Sita and younger brother Laxmana, from which we are taught about moral values and ethics.

But how do we all remember Sita?

As Purushottam Rama’s wife?
Or
As Janaka’s daughter?

This is because father’s pride before a wedding becomes husband’s pride after the one. A woman is believed to carry her man’s name.

The Liberation of Sita as the name only suggests is the self realisation story of Sita as the daughter of Earth goddess after she was abandoned by Lord Rama. During this arduous journey she meets other extraordinary women like Surpanakha, Renuka, Urmila and Ahalya who have broken free from all that held them back: husbands, sons and their notions of desires, beauty and chastity. While Rama on the other hand too must reconsider and weigh out his role as a King and as a man deeply in love with his wife. It is reliving the epic Ramayana through Sita’s eyes.
Sita raises her two sons by herself living in an ashram where she loves peace, beauty and wildness of the deep forest, a contrast to her splendid capital stays of the past. In the beginning she is full of pain and confusion but meeting one woman after another, listening about their paths, she questions Rama and his dharma, her own identity, complex nature of fidelity. By the end she is sure about herself. Her actual origin, values, and her need for no one, not even her husband. This novel is one of the feminist best by Volga.
Somehow the story still depicts how our society doubts a woman but not a man. A man is still the dominant soul and his wife should always do according to his wishes. This book is a must read lesson to all women out there to know about and realise their own-selves.

From the book-

“I am the daughter of Earth, Rama. I have realised who I am. The whole universe belongs to me. I don’t lack anything. I am the daughter of Earth.

Rama was left speechless by these solemn words.

Devoid of Sita’s support, Rama tasted defeat for the first time in his life. By refusing to bow down to external authority, Sita had fully experienced, for the first time, the inner power of self-authority."(41)


Rating- 4.2/5
Happy reading friends!

-©Auldrin❤