Title:9 Yards of Silk
Author: Sakshi Kiran
Blurb:
Shakuntala lives with her son Bharat in a deep forest. One fine day Bharat reminds her of his father, resulting to upset her. As the child goes out to play a celestial maiden Menaka appears in front of her who offers friendship, suggesting to share their stories with each other. Menaka tells her about Kaushik, a sage to whom she was sent by Indra for disturbing his fierce penance and how they ended up falling for one another.
Shakuntala also shares her story of meeting and marrying the charming prince of Hastinapur who later abandoned her. During the conversation Shakuntala finds blessings in her life, why she was abandoned by parents at birth and how her estranged husband was just a victim of circumstances for leaving her.
After Menaka's departure, Dushyant returns to her in the hope of reuniting with family. Now it is Shakuntala's turn to decide. What would she choose?
My Views:
We never know what happened behind our back. The grass on the other side always looks greener. Sakshi's debut book, '9 yards of silk' is a welcoming story sliced from the mythological taste with some tint taste of her imagination.
The ambiance required to be in the story is completely missing. The way Sakshi portrays the story lacks the visualization of the surrounding environment. When she talks about heaven, and the incidents that take place there, I didn't feel like I'm in heaven and venturing heaven's story. It seemed more like a conversation-based story, with not much of involvement of emotions and feelings. Although she talks about how our protagonists feel, they are just mere words, hollow and void, those words are not enough to reach out to the reader's heart and pass on same emotions and feelings.
The language used to narrate the story is way too simple, good for the newbies. But, when we talk about the location where the story is set, it demands a more appealing language and a strong bond with the reader. When Menka becomes the narrator, the reader should feel her presence and should get dissolved in her words, that's the charm of this character. But, nothing happened of that sort. Writing a story on some recognized and bold characters from the chapters of mythology require showing a lot of potentials. I know it is not easy as I'm saying, but being a reader one expects to feel what the story demands.
Before this book, whichever book I've read of genre MythologicalFiction are adorned with opulent and fancy words. They go deep into the situation when it comes to narration, and are long-lengthed books. But, this one is different. Initially, I expected the same amount of opulence, but then everything comes out with great charm and passion.
I really liked the theme. Reading the blurb, and impressed by the title, I was pretty sure that this book gonna serve me something different and delicious. The plot worked for me, but the only glitch I have with the book is the way it is being presented to the readers.The way Shakuntala and Menka take their turn to narrate the story is really mesmerizing. They dropped their story at a turning point, which keeps the reader engaged until another one finishes off. What the narration style couldn't do, did the story. To be completely engaged in the story, all it took was some considerable amount of time to fall for the protagonist and two engaging stories.Both the stories are heart-wrenching and welcoming. With time they create their aroma and started to charm me.
Albeit, the end was little expected, but it felt great how it turned out.
Rating: 3.8/5
Reviewer: Shweta Kesari
Author: Sakshi Kiran
Blurb:
Shakuntala lives with her son Bharat in a deep forest. One fine day Bharat reminds her of his father, resulting to upset her. As the child goes out to play a celestial maiden Menaka appears in front of her who offers friendship, suggesting to share their stories with each other. Menaka tells her about Kaushik, a sage to whom she was sent by Indra for disturbing his fierce penance and how they ended up falling for one another.
Shakuntala also shares her story of meeting and marrying the charming prince of Hastinapur who later abandoned her. During the conversation Shakuntala finds blessings in her life, why she was abandoned by parents at birth and how her estranged husband was just a victim of circumstances for leaving her.
After Menaka's departure, Dushyant returns to her in the hope of reuniting with family. Now it is Shakuntala's turn to decide. What would she choose?
My Views:
We never know what happened behind our back. The grass on the other side always looks greener. Sakshi's debut book, '9 yards of silk' is a welcoming story sliced from the mythological taste with some tint taste of her imagination.
The ambiance required to be in the story is completely missing. The way Sakshi portrays the story lacks the visualization of the surrounding environment. When she talks about heaven, and the incidents that take place there, I didn't feel like I'm in heaven and venturing heaven's story. It seemed more like a conversation-based story, with not much of involvement of emotions and feelings. Although she talks about how our protagonists feel, they are just mere words, hollow and void, those words are not enough to reach out to the reader's heart and pass on same emotions and feelings.
The language used to narrate the story is way too simple, good for the newbies. But, when we talk about the location where the story is set, it demands a more appealing language and a strong bond with the reader. When Menka becomes the narrator, the reader should feel her presence and should get dissolved in her words, that's the charm of this character. But, nothing happened of that sort. Writing a story on some recognized and bold characters from the chapters of mythology require showing a lot of potentials. I know it is not easy as I'm saying, but being a reader one expects to feel what the story demands.
Before this book, whichever book I've read of genre MythologicalFiction are adorned with opulent and fancy words. They go deep into the situation when it comes to narration, and are long-lengthed books. But, this one is different. Initially, I expected the same amount of opulence, but then everything comes out with great charm and passion.
I really liked the theme. Reading the blurb, and impressed by the title, I was pretty sure that this book gonna serve me something different and delicious. The plot worked for me, but the only glitch I have with the book is the way it is being presented to the readers.The way Shakuntala and Menka take their turn to narrate the story is really mesmerizing. They dropped their story at a turning point, which keeps the reader engaged until another one finishes off. What the narration style couldn't do, did the story. To be completely engaged in the story, all it took was some considerable amount of time to fall for the protagonist and two engaging stories.Both the stories are heart-wrenching and welcoming. With time they create their aroma and started to charm me.
Albeit, the end was little expected, but it felt great how it turned out.
Rating: 3.8/5
Reviewer: Shweta Kesari
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