Tag Archives: bookreview

Robinhood Singh is dead. Yet, he speaks, that too endlessly. He narrates the story of his family, who is coping with the loss of his sudden death. While commenting on the goings and comings, his judgemental side peeks out in certain places, and his jocular nature in all! Realizations come to him in small pockets and Robinhood (or Robu) is generous enough to share them with the reader. He is amused to learn the several secrets his mother holds close to her heart and is saddened to discover how his wife, Pushpakala, has masked her unhappiness for years, under her beautiful and serene smile. Robinhood grapples with shock of being unable to hug his daughter Dimple as the scenes of his tormented family struggling to adjust to his absence bombard him.

“Break the chains!” were the cryptic orders of Queen Victoria Empress of India In December 1867, a force set sail from Bombay, under Lt Gen Sir Robert Napier OBE, to bring to heel the Ethiopian Emperor Twedros and subjugate his Abyssinian Empire. The Abyssinian Campaign, involving the greatest force to sail under the British Empire, led to death, desecration and loot. The looted ancient treasures of Ethiopia ended up in England, in Museums and private collections. The desecration of Churches and loot unleased ancient prophecies and unnatural deaths over the years. A group of youngsters in London involved in the movement for return of the Ethiopian treasures discover the deaths and the prophecies that have continued to the present day. What starts as an innocent interest, turns into a sinister involvement that threatens to consume them. Vikram’s great grandfather had taken part in the campaign into Abyssinia. Catherine is the granddaughter of Sylvia Pankhurst, the world-famous champion of Ethiopian rights, Aferwork has a blood line connected to the unwed wide of Emperor Twedros II. One of the Regiments brings back a processional Cross from the Church at Magdala. The Cross has a curse…it lives… The sons continue to pay for the sins of their fathers. The curse eventually consumes the protagonist as he gets possessed in a horrific ending.

Book title – Excess baggage Publisher – Black Ink       Author – Richa S Mukherjee Genre –  Drama, humour    Pages – 328 pages   Language – English Available on – Amazon.in Purchase Link – https://www.amazon.in/Excess-Baggage-Richa-S-Mukherjee/dp/9353579732/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1T8BO33IHYIKT&keywords=excess+baggage&qid=1665057578&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjYwIiwicXNhIjoiMC41MSIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=excess+bagga%2Caps%2C357&sr=8-1 ************************************************** Excess Baggage is a book that is consummately Indian in its flavour. I daresay that there …

  Book title – Cosmic Vibes – from chaos to quietude Publisher – Literature’s light        Author – Shristee Singh Genre – Poetry     Pages – 81 pages   Language – English Available on – Amazon.in Purchase Link – https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/9391301118/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1   ——————————————————————————— Shristee Singh’s debut poetry book titled – Cosmic Vibes, from chaos …

Book title – A window to her dreams Genre –drama Publisher – Readomania        Pages – 320    Language – English Author – Harshali Singh Available on – Amazon.in Purchase link – https://www.amazon.in/Window-Her-Dreams-Harshali-Singh-ebook/dp/B06VT8GR1F/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1451VWSMJ1D93&keywords=a+window+to+her+dreams&qid=1658801198&sprefix=a+window+to+her+dream%2Caps%2C268&sr=8-1 _______________________ At the heart of this book is an ancestral Haveli, 150 years old that stands as a testament …

What I enjoyed most about the book was the amount of information it left me saddled with after I finished reading it. I found myself thinking about the life of Telgi, his circumstances, his motivations, his penchant for expensive things and his eventual downfall. Long after I finished the book, I was left ruminating over the psychology of the fraudster. What went through his mind as he perpetuated scam after scam? Did fear never cloud his planning? Was he so drunk on the success of his frauds that he was unable to stop? What prompted him to keep going – greed or the lure of power?

What is true love? Who are soulmates? Can love be defined by the constructs of society and convention? Can an affair rescue a marriage? Can true love ever tear people apart? Two college mates fall in love, only to be separated-their love stays steady, though they meet just twice in forty years. A close-knit family, shadows from the past, a lingering suspicion, and a relationship put to the test. An emotionally unavailable husband, a hurt wife; and an affair that redeems and transforms. Three strong women, and their journeys. And love, as mature and strong as them. In these times of speed dating, hook-ups, and break-ups, Stars from the Borderless Sky, a collection of three riveting stories, takes an unconventional, honest, empathetic look at that most universal of human emotions—love.

How would you feel if you meandered into a tale and suddenly found it leading you up a twisted path of intrigue and evil? Life is made up of light and shade. Just when you feel that things are in your control, the darkness moves in and edges the light out. That is when the shadows follow, creating an atmosphere of disquiet. The stories in this anthology do just that. They keep you wondering where they are leading you till the shadows catch up with you.

‘You don’t need a man to complete you. You are complete on your own.’ Isn’t this a wonderful lesson for all women?

Tilottama At A Glance is compiled from a series of blog posts written for the A to Z challenge. It’s not merely the A B C’s of Kolkata for a casual traveller. This book allows you to acquaint yourself with the heart and soul of a rather unusual Indian city with loads of quirks. It is a journey through the culture, history, architecture, idiosyncrasies and other endearing or astonishing traits of Kolkata, that make this city unique.