A PARADOX OF DREAMS BY HARSHALI SINGH - Book 3 of The Haveli Series - Book Review
This is the story of Charu, the third daughter of the
Sharma family, and her relationship with her beloved Anwar Haveli, the Haveli
with a hundred doors; the saga of Charu, the baby “born with eyes too old in
her infant face”, who lost her sight at the age of nine. The daughter of Arun
and Uma, who walked with a limp, and yet, was stronger than she appeared. As was her daughter, Charu!
Charu, the girl beset by dreams, confusion and melancholy, but blessed with a powerful intuition that becomes stronger when she loses her sight.
Unable to handle the little girl, her parents send her away to her grandmother
in Surat, a turning point in their lives.
“The silences grew sharper, the distance between them
longer.”
All her life she carries a “hurt that throbbed within her”
and suffers nightmares of a past that lies deep buried within her. However, her
acute sense of being able to read people’s feelings and thoughts brings Charu closer
to her true calling in life, that of an empath.
The story begins when Charu and her close friend, ACP Ravi
Nair, are summoned by Prithvi, an old friend of hers, to help find his 18-month-old
daughter, Myra, who has been kidnapped. Much against her wishes, Charu agrees to
help him in the investigation. Prithvi is now a minister from Haryana, a man
with much influence, and very different from the young man he was when she knew
him earlier.
Charu is independent and strong, but she is caged in her
constant need to know where she is, given her disability. This makes her
vulnerable, and she constantly pushes away love. “Love will not grow in the
shadow of my perpetual need.”
Along with Ravi and the industrious Reeti, Charu works at
the pieces of a puzzle till they fall into place. Solving crimes gives her a
sense of power. The day Myra was kidnapped, her mother, Anumita, had gone to
drop her elder daughter Sia in school. It was then that the nanny, Gita, found
Myra’s cot empty.
There are numerous undercurrents in the house which Charu
feels most intensely; between Prithvi and his wife Anumita, between Swami Ram
Vilas Ji, Prithvi’s spiritual guru and Anumita’s stepmother, Malti Devi. These undercurrents
come in the way of the investigation, often derailing it as suspicion falls on
one from the other. Many of the characters are fighting inner demons, and as
the investigation gains momentum, fragments of the past come together to create
a mosaic that shocks and shatters. The house itself “is like a swamp of
emotions” and Charu’s sensitivity allows her to be constantly battered by the
various emotions that envelop her from all directions.
Harshali Singh once again proves her prowess as a writer,
as she writes a book that is vastly different from her two earlier ones. She
handles emotions with delicacy, and her narrative style veers from languid to thrilling,
depending on the action in the story.
The mystery blossoms as the days go by, and by the end,
the readers are left holding their breath as a rollercoaster of events almost
sweeps them off their feet. There are so many endings that could be possible,
and yet, the author walks along a tightrope to keep the suspense taut and
thrilling.
The grand Anwar Haveli has the last word, as it muses
over the people who live and love within its walls. “The end is also a beginning.
A newness that springs unexpectedly, an old forgotten seed taking root.”
At the end, all that I can say is. “Thank God there are
many more characters in the Haveli. I cannot wait to read about them in future!”
Explained it aptly
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I have enjoyed all Harshali's books! Waiting for her next!
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