A Woman’s Silent Resistance to Calamities within and Outside

          

                        The House I Loved  

                                             
                          Book Summary

Rose is determined to go against the order of the state and protect the walls of her family home. She is alone in her struggle considering that her neighbours and friends had long given up the idea to protest against the order of the Prefect. While deciding never to part with the house, she decides to hide herself in its cellar. Her loneliness makes way for her past to reappear in her memories that she pens down in her letters to her late husband Armand. But, is it only the fear of losing her home that weighs heavy on her mind or are there any dark secrets that the walls of the house hold within? 

                                 Book Review

“Living in Paris under the reign of our Emperor and our Prefect was like living in a besieged city invaded daily by dirt, rubble, ashes and mud.” Rose Bazelet in her letters to her husband describes how the idea of modernization of Paris had forced many families to vacate their homes and flee in search of refuge in other cities. Hiding in the cellar of her own house, Rose recounts the happy days she had spent with her family within its walls and the horrors she had experienced, but not dared to share. Relieved that the letters she is writing would be read by none, Rose recounts the nightmare that had been haunting her for the past 30 years, the pain of being assaulted by a man in her neighborhood, her arduous life as Armand’s widow and the pain she continues to feel for her dead son. 

                                                             Book Recommendation     

Some people like to read fiction. Some like to stick to the non-fiction genre for its realistic approach. This book adheres to both the kinds of readers. A fictional story about a widow’s struggle to protect and secure her home based on events that had taken place while Paris was being remolded and redesigned.

The plot of the story revolves around the heart-wrenching circumstances that most Parisians had to experience when they had received the order to vacate their houses in order for them to be razed down to complete the new and modern making of Paris. Alas, for some people, houses are more than just bricks and mortar. They are like souls without which lives cannot be imagined.

The author by writing this book accomplishes her mission in dishing out a story that is both compelling and forceful in spirit. 

                                                                                

                    

The Palace of Illusions: Contemporary Outlook of a Timeless Epic

                             The Palace of Illusions
                                        
                                    Book Summary

No matter how strong you may believe yourself to be, circumstances have the ability to bend and mold you accordingly. Draupadi learns this the hard way. Though the book is an attempt to relook at Mahabharata from a woman’s angle, the lines between the pages highlight the plight of a woman and her destiny decided not as per her choice, but by the men in her life and family. The princess’ secret desire for Karna is dissolved when the latter prompts his friend Duryodhan to disrobe her in front of the entire Hastinapur court.

Draupadi gets entangled in a tumultuous state of affairs because of the foolishness and egoistic outlook of men in her family. Her wounded pride that seeks respite only in revenge and blood befalls a curse on the entire clan that ultimately claims all concerned to doom and death.

The book differs from the original epic in its differential outlook between the good and bad. There is no evil or virtue involved; it is only the heart that is constantly at conflict with the mind. 

                                     Book Review

This book is not an abridged version of Maharashtra as opposed to popular understanding. It is an in-depth view of how mortal beings behave in particular situations notwithstanding their own principles and opinions on the same. This book details a princess’ understanding of the times when humans and gods crossed each other paths and influenced each others’ lives, the former being more impelled and motivated by views of the latter. This book is not a single story, but rather contains a bunch of stories skillfully embedded and woven within a story.  Apart, the language used is simple, lucid and interesting.

                                   Book recommendation

For those interested to know about times when mythological figures roamed the earth and revelations of the future were made well in advance to those struggling against the present and waiting to escape its clutches, this book is a sure shot interesting piece. With each character etched in this book failing to deal with psychological complexities complicated further by religious views and occult practices coupled with myths and superstitions, this book will keep its reader glued till the last page.