Twisted tales and turns- Book Review
Have you ever tried a bus trip in a mountainous area? If yes, you would understand what twists and turns really mean. Something similar has been used by the author in her skill in presenting this collection of stories. Each story has its own importance within the pages of this book.
Summary: The author has divided this book into four distinct sections covering beautiful stories with unexpected twists and turns.
Out of this world: This section of the story consists of a collection of parapsychological experiences. The author successfully crafted each story and was successful in maintaining suspense till the end. Out of all the collections in this section, my best pick was "Masterpiece." In this story, Manav, the artist, went to a resort to create his masterpiece. In this due course, the author has intelligently exploited the artist's imagination and birthed masterpiece concepts.
"...'The lady in the painting, of course,' Manav replied. 'There is no lady in the painting, young man. The picture is of scenic mountains. What are you talking about?' his hostess queried."
"...he turned towards the picture, and the words stopped midway in his throat. He stared with an open mouth."
"...he went to his room and switched on the lights, his eyes going to the picture on the wall. The lady was smiling."
Here, Manav saw what he imagined to be real. She has used the element of enmity between the imagined masterpiece and the artist for the real birth of the masterpiece. This story really touched my heart.
"It is too late now. You tried to leave without giving form to my soul. Can one ever escape one's own innermost thoughts and desires? Very foolish you are. Now, I will take over you completely and produce myself on your canvas. Everyone will admire me. The masterpiece."
Not too far into the future: As the name suggests, this section talks about the future. The opening story, "Throwback to History," talks about the transformational shift of thought about women force. This story is about Maneka's wish to work or not to work. Mayank is her husband.
"Maneka frowned. How come history books and fictions from the older era portrayed working women as an exception?"
whereas the present generation wants working women.
"(Mayank answered) well my parents and friends have been pestering me about your activities and future plans. No woman sits at home in the twenty-third century; you are an exception. I find it strange to be the only man in the group whose wife is a homemaker."
Maneka finally makes a bold declaration
"I worked for money when I wanted to. Now I wanted to pursue my passions. No one can take this choice away from me,"
That was a superb reply.
I admired the most is, "For a Better World," a story so well woven for the betterment. The author has richly exploited the human emotions so well to prevent machines from replacing mankind. She started her story with a child born in a war zone. The journey woven by the author around the machines was splendid, and skillfully, she has reprogrammed the destruction of machines for a new and better beginning.
"I cried myself to sleep that night, only to be woken up by the deafening synchronised implosions. The world was different when I dragged myself out of bed in the morning..........The destruction of weapons had achieved what their existence could not."
All doesn't end well: This section has another good collection of twists. The author has beautifully portrayed it in her opening story, "The Mask of Pretence," wherein she collides with old college lovebirds to meet for an official meeting. Karan and Sanya both made a perfect couple. Both were intelligent and good. Now, Sanya's friend Prajakta loved Karan and said to Sanya,
"You have everything. You are on tip of the batch and will get good placements. I am struggling to get decent scores in college and am not interested in placements. Please leave Karan for me."
The author has very artistically exploited the emotions among friends to show sacrifice and love together under one roof. As you proceed further, you will keep enjoying these beautiful traits of the author, who presents the different faces of sacrifices when things are not going well.
Another of the stories that I would like to mention is about "My Knight in White." This story talks about the one-sided love of a woman with leukoderma. This woman played the role of negotiator for Sally, whom her lover wanted to marry. Since she loved him, she did that for him. He married Sally, but she fell sick after the first twin delivery. This man again sought the help of the woman with leukoderma. She took care of all the kids. Sally finally died, and now this woman thinks he is mine. She finally made up her mind to announce it to him. Just then, he introduced a widow named Annie, whom he loved.
"Thank you for making me hoin the ballet class. That is where I met Annie."
Her life ended with her expecting that he would recognise her love, but that never happened.
"I gazed into your eyes and see what I haven't all these years before closing my eyes forever. In death, I have achieved what I could not in life-the love of my knight in white."
Love comes in all hues: As I journeyed through these pages and reached this section, it had yet more surprises. The opening story, "The consent," speaks about the how a girl gives consent to her stepmother and then happily lives her life thereafter. Then the author chose the concept of give and take and added a twist. Now, this very girl has grown up into a gorgeous young lady and has fallen in love with a handsome man. The author ended the story by showing that the girl is truly in love with the boy and is ready to leave this cosy house to be with him. This stepmother accompanies her and returns her consent in the same way, saying, "DON'T LEAVE." This made her come back. However, I missed the heated conversation about presenting her love to her family members that made her leave. I feel the author's skillful description of this conversation will make the story look more interesting. The closing story, "A Matter of Her Identity," is a superb choice. The way she created this identity is really admirable. I never thought she would talk about this concept so beautifully. That story really made me admire the various hues of love she has painted.
Over all, every story has a beautiful message to carry with you. If you are looking for some creative stories, this book will meet all your needs.
Rating: 4/5
About the author: Smita Das Jain is a writer by passion. Her debut story collection, A slice of life, was named among India's top three fiction works by the Writefluence, Her debut novel, A price to love, found a mention in the top 50 books of 2022 by Delhi Wire. She is the only Asian to be named in the top 20 flash fiction winners list in the Spring 2022 contest organised by US-based Women on writing(WOW!) Magazine. A winner of prestigious Bharat award for Literature-2023, she continues producing short stories featured in eminent national and international anthologies around the globe. She was also shortlisted fro the Women's Web Orange Flower Awards 2022-23 for her writing. Apart from the writing world, she is known as TEDx speaker, an executive coach, and personal empowerment life coach enabling people to get better at what they do. She also had been keynote speaker at prestigious corporate conferences and a guest columnist on personal development matters for leading magazines and platforms. An IIM Indore graduate and SRCC alumna, she lives with her rockstar husband and adorable thirteen-year-old daughter at their home in Gurugram, India.
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