Book Review
Title: Xanadu
Author: Harshita
Nanda
Format: PDF E-book
Harshita Nanda’s novella, Xanadu,
is more about a road to Xanadu than Xanadu itself. The idyl is not natural or
easily available. It has to be created. It demands much agony and endurance
from us. This novella is about those agonies and endurances. That is precisely
what makes it enjoyable too. Utopias can’t entertain us; they can only satiate
us and then leave us exhausted with ennui. The reason why there aren’t any
utopias in the human world may be precisely that. We have all the potential to
create utopias. But we won’t create them. In fact, if someone does create one, the
others will sow the seeds of all possible vices there and kill it. That is how
human nature is. All our good literature is about those vices and follies of
ours. Any good novel has to end where the idyllic Xanadu begins. And that is
just what happens in Harshita Nanda’s novella too.
The plot
revolves primarily round Anita, Bhoomi and Harish. Anita is a young woman when
the storyline starts. A British young man, Derek Rogers, captures her heart.
But Derek has to leave India when his parents decide to withdraw to their own
country after India wins independence. Anita is reluctant to join them leaving
the hill town she loves much. We meet the aging, solitary Anita in the first
chapter who eventually gets a little girl named Bhoomi for a friend.
Bhoomi has to
leave Anita soon as a catastrophe leaves her fatherless. Her mother, Shalini,
belonged to an aristocratic family in the city and had been disowned for
marrying a poor hillman for love. Following the tragic death of her husband in
an accident that also destroys their house, Shalini returns to her parents in
the hope that they would understand and accept her. If family honour is what
got her disinherited, the same family honour gets her back in and the business
sense that usually accompanies such ‘honour’ gets Shalini married to Arjun who
is settled in the US. Arjun had remained a bachelor all these years just
because his love for Shalini had been unrequited. Unrequited love is a dominant
theme in the novella.
The marriage
takes Bhoomi to America where life turns miserable for her as well as her
mother who is unable to forget her dead husband.
Harish is a
young boy whom Bhoomi had become friends with as a little girl while she lived
in Shalini’s parents’ house. Fortune favours Harish who gets good education in
an elite school.
The plot now
takes some very interesting twists and turns and leads the reader to an
unputdownable climax.
It is a short
book that can be read in about an hour. The story is narrated skilfully though it
is the author’s debut work in this category. The plot has a Dickensian neatness
and finesse, not to mention the suspense that the end of each chapter carries.
The book is a sure indication that this author will go a long way and give us
excellent works in the future.
PS. This book
is part of the Blogchatter E-book Carnival and is free to download now here.
My
contribution to the same Carnival is LIFE: 24 Essays which is also free here.
This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon.
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteOh I say, I missed seeing this title when choosing my few - must go check it out! Thanks for the review to tease the grey cells &*> YAM xx
And Harshita will be the gainer. With your perceptive review.
DeleteIf Tomichan recommends I read.
ReplyDelete🙏
DeleteA wonderful review of a very well written book.
ReplyDeleteDeepika Sharma
Thanks Deepika.
DeleteI had read all the A2Z posts . Your review has added more brightness to it now .
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteYes, it is lovely book that I had enjoyed reading during the challenge. Your review does full justice to the work.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteYour excellent review is the perfect companion to Harshita's amazing book!
ReplyDelete