Book Review: The Wedding Trousseau and Other Short Stories

Author: Ankita Sharma

Publisher: Humming Word Publishers

Price: Rs.180

Pages: 130

About the book:

A plethora of emotions strewn across eleven short stories that are so different from each other yet concocted together with a single thread of simplicity, a trait which is attributed to the beautiful author Ankita Sharma herself. 

The first thing that came to my mind after finishing The Wedding Trousseau was that the author did not give in to the pressure of writing with the sole purpose of selling. She did not unnecessarily attempt to give readers spicy pieces of fiction just for the heck of it. There is no mind throbbing drama or intense climax at the end of every story which is usually seen as the only way to keep the interest of the reader intact. Instead, the book gives regard to everyday emotions with which you and I can connect. It gives regard to the fact that stories are everywhere, at every nook and cranny of our life, we just have to keep our minds open.

The Wedding Trousseau encompasses stories written in an unconventional manner, with no particular beginning or ending and that makes them quite real and believable. They are more like small episodes in the lives of characters coming from diverse backgrounds. Stories ranging from pet love to motherhood, from aliens to adoption, stories that will move you from within or will make you empathize with the protagonist dealing with the monotony of life, all in all, this book has a lot to offer.

As a first time author, I truly believe that Ankita has done an incredible job with this book. She has shown courage to try something different and I applaud her for giving the readers so many interesting stories in just 130 pages. Her writing is simple, easy to read and there is no compromise on the quality of work. You don't need a lot of time from your busy schedule for this book because it is perfect if you want something to read over a weekend or if you're traveling.

I recommend this book to those who need a break from heavy fiction novels or those who are not avid readers, try this book. It will help you delve deeper in the field of literature. 

You can purchase this book from the following websites:

1. Amazon
2. Buy Books India
3. Flipkart

Ankita writes regularly on her blog Humming Words, and you should definitely give her blog a visit if you want to see how beautiful and amazing writer she is. Go see yourself. And while you're visiting her blog, it would be nice of you to like her Facebook page as well. Show some love, pretty people!

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Note to the author:

Thank you so much Ankita for having faith in me to review your book (I've never done a review before, therefore it's a big deal) and for sending me a signed copy. A signed copy! (I've never owned a signed copy before, therefore it's a big deal too.) I was elated when I read the sweet little note that you had left for me. It is so cool to personally know the author. *show off*

You have done a great job. I wish loads of success with this book and hope that you will soon become a regular name in the world of literature.

I'd rather be a forest than a street.

I'd rather be a creek carving its way beneath the rocks

than a pond.

I'd rather be a wildflower that grows in unexpected corners

than a lily.

I'd rather be a shaft of sunlight that reaches the darkest spaces

than a shadow.

I'd rather cascade majestically like a spring tide

than a wave.

I'd rather trace the murky depths of an ocean 

than skim through it

and call it a life.

_______

Inspired by: Simon & Garfunkel - El Condor Pasa
(current favorite)

Transience.

A little more than three weeks and it is as difficult to make room for acceptance as it was the time I heard the news. 

It was 6 in the morning and ma was restlessly knocking on my door. With sleepy eyes and no sense of time or place, I got off my bed and opened it. What I heard next was so unbearably heavy that it shook me immensely from within. There was numbness, I remember. I was standing by the door, trying to absorb what I'd just heard while my mind was shaking.. to and fro, to and fro. I felt numbness in my throat, in my arms and in my legs. I felt it reach down through my chest, pausing every sense in me for a while.

It had happened. What we were told by the doctors had actually happened. Three weeks and one more life gone. The life of our family had gone.

I have been trying to find a better way to express how miserably tough it is to understand this ugly level of sadness that we are stuck at and to start learning to deal with life all over again. I have been trying and failing, again and again. Nothing is enough right now, nothing strikes the right cord or perhaps there is no right cord here and I'm just wasting time amidst this oblivion which is hauntingly familiar to me. 

Like I've been here before, sailing through it and hunting for days when I was a little girl, when I was far away from this world where people fade into memory with so much ease and when everyone, almost everyone I loved was just.. happy and alive!

________