From the story of Urmila, Sita’s sister to life in Iran and the cruel fate of Bollywood’s item girls – all these stories on the IANS bookshelf this weekend throw light on the many hues of women and, interestingly, are written by women. Take a look.
1. Book: Sita’s Sister; Author: Kavita Kane; Publisher: Rupa; Pages: 312; Price: Rs.295
The Ramayana invariably brings to our collective minds the characters of Ram, Sita, Lakshman, Bharat, Kausalya, Ravana, Mandodari – even Kaikeyi and Manthara.
This is the story of Urmila, Sita’s sister, and one of the most overlooked characters in the epic. As Sita prepares to go into exile, her younger sisters stay on in the doomed palace in Ayodhya, their smiles, hopes and joys wiped away in a single stroke. But one woman, of immense strength and conviction, stands out in this tableau of tears and tragedy – Urmila, whose husband, Lakshman, has chosen to accompany his brother Ram to the forest. She could have insisted on joining Lakshman, as did Sita with Ram, but she did not.
Why did she agree to be left behind in the palace, waiting for her husband for 14 painfully long years? This novel aims to tell her story.
2. Book: The Book of Fate; Author: Parinoush Saniee; Publisher: Abacus; Pages: 447; Price: Rs.399
Described as the “banned novel that became a huge bestseller”, it narrates the story of an ordinary girl, Massoumeh, who is passionate about learning.
Translated from Persian by Sara Khalili, the novel, spanning five turbulent decades, offers a “rare insider’s view of the Iranian society” and is a story of friendship and passion, fear and hope.
While Massoumeh falls in love with a local man who she met on her way to school, she is hastily married off to a man she has never met by her family who accuse her of bringing them “dishonour”.
However, her life completely transforms in the years following her marriage to Hamid, a political dissident who is arrested by the secret service.
Massoumeh, whose fate has been dictated by loyalty and tradition, “is now tied to the changing fortunes of her country”.
3. Book: Item Girl; Author: Richa Lakhera; Publisher: Rupa; Pages: 303; Price: Rs. 195
Sunheri and Suhana – twin sisters who share a horrific childhood – get caught up in a vortex of pain and deceit when Sunheri, a popular item girl in Bollywood, is accused of murdering her vicious uncle and is sent to jail. Suhana, an aspiring filmmaker, is determined to seek justice for her sister but comes up against Kala, their stepmother, who has hatched diabolical plans of her own.
And when three other manipulative item girls – Nargis, Digital Dolly and Daisy – are identified as key eyewitnesses in Sunheri’s case, the matter only becomes more complicated.
This psychological thriller promises to hold you hostage until the end.
4. Book: Inga; Author: Polie Sengupta; Publisher: Tranquebar; Pages: 310; Price: Rs.350
Rapa is born into a Tamil Brahmin family, full of dark secrets. She is brought up in Delhi where an English education introduces her to literature that is both
fascinating and foreign. Her summer holidays are spent in the confines of the family home in Kerala, where she has her cousin Igna for company.
But as the two girls grow up, their lives change through a tortuous, pain-filled process. Forty years after her death, Rapa’s husband has her notes published – the story of her struggles against her family, her marriage and her final encounter with Igna.
A tragic tale of yearning and hope, of derision and rage, of miracles and dreams and of utter rejection.