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Book title – Pronounced Guilty!
Publisher – Readomania Pages – 262 pages Language – English
Genre – contemporary fiction
Author – Monica Singh
Available on – amazon.in
Purchase link – https://www.amazon.in/Pronounced-Guilty-Monica-Singh/
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Monica Singh’s ‘pronounced guilty’ is not one story but many stories (of characters) who are entwined together. A part of each other’s life, in one manner or another, this book is a beautifully crafted tale which carries Monica’s signature writing style – precise and direct!
Her characterization is apt. In keeping with the serious vein that runs through the book, Monica has not spent time dramatizing frivolities of her characters. She has given us just enough of a glimpse into their physical and psychological attributes to enable us, the reader, to imagine them for ourselves. That’s a remarkably restrained approach from a writer.
It’s a serious book, no doubt about it! Prison reform, the Indian justice system, the psychology of a criminal, the abuse that women endure, the power/politics that rules; this book has a flavour of everything that a common man can identify with or grapples with. It must have taken a lot of research, a lot of reading to bring forth a volume that carries such precise speeches, quotes and text. I applaud that effort. Monica has done a commendable job! Commendable! No, two thoughts about that!
The foreshadowing of the plotline has been handled with expertise and that was detrimental to the flow of the remainder of the book. Without reading that, with all of its minute details, one cannot comprehend the many stories that make up the book.
This is a thought-provoking book. It highlights that sometimes, certain accidental/unintentional incidents have the capability to re-shape our future. Circumstances force us to re-evaluate our perspective about life, others and situations. In the light of the day, what appeared black in darkness, shines brighter than a star. That’s what is my take away from this book – a belief in second chances.
But I do have one insight. Somehow, to me, it felt like this book had the bandwidth to be lengthier. I have followed Monica’s earlier work very closely and I know that she writes with a free hand but with deft editing to ensure that all loose ends are tied up. She had tied up the loose ends in this book too but somehow, portions of the latter half seem slightly less descriptive. My reasoning for this would be that Monica was under pressure, by her publishers, to cut down the word count of this book. That is so sad.
That apart, if you are in the mood for some serious, thought-provoking reading – get this book!
