THE RED GANGES BY MONALISA JOSHI - BOOK REVIEW - #WRITEAPAGEADAY #BLOGCHATTER

 

                                                                                              Amazon.in

The beautiful face of a lady gazes out at the reader in an enticing shade of crimson, striking against a pale violet background. The Red Ganges (Rakta Ganga), the title stands out in stark contrast, adding a mysterious allure to the cover image. The author, Monalisa Joshi, dedicates this story to her hometown, Nawabganj, in Kolkata.

This is the story of the young and attractive Moina, well educated and cultured, and Miss Katherine Arkwright, her college professor wo taught British Literature, and considered Moina the apple of her eye. It also tells the saga of Dahlia, the daughter of Justice Chottopadhyay for whom Moina’s father worked as caretaker.

Dahlia had grown up without parental love and she and Moina turned into close friends. Dahlia’s favourite person was her elder brother, Sujit, who had been sent away to get his Law degree from London along with his friend Tapon. Sujit loved his little sister dearly and hated being away from her.

The day Sujit returned to Kolkata, he bumped into Moina, knocking her to the ground. He instantly fell in love with her without knowing who she was. When he reached home after dropping Moina off, Dahlia was ecstatic to see him. That is when he realised that his old friend, Dr. Anup Banerjee, was the one who was slated to marry his sister, a case of two Zamindar families coming together in an alliance.

As Sujit fell more in love with Moina, she told him of her marriage to an elderly man and how she had escaped her past. The reason why she confided him created an uproar in Sujit’s heart, a reason which made him plead with his father to stop the alliance of his sister with Anup.

The mystery of the Red Ganges puzzled Sujit. What was this Rakta Ganga that no one wanted to speak about, the secret that, however, kept everyone terrified? “The Red Ganges roamed on the lanes of the nights only at the devil’s hour.” Fear kept people off the lanes at night.

An erstwhile parallel story was the love story of Katherine Arkwright and businessman Prodeep Sengupta, a love story that had blossomed in London, but which withered away in India. As she described her love to Moina, she lamented, “I found myself struggling on a boat in the middle of a vast ocean of emotions.” She persuaded her not to make the same mistake that she herself had made. Moina was aware that Sujit’s love for her was as pure as the Ganges.

The Red Ganges is a book with strong characters who live out their lives either in the throes of love or hatred. Some of them live soulless, loveless lives; others in sheer indifference. Circumstances turn love into hatred, leading to dire circumstances. Monalisa Joshi tells an enthralling story that keeps the readers engrossed, with the Ganges playing a pivotal role as it flows through the pages with effortless dexterity. She also brings out the tumultuous era of the Zamindari system in West Bengal where patriarchy flourished openly. As she puts it,

“…women’s fate was written only by the men of the society, and by no one else, and it was also true that there was no real escape, but to live through it.”

The final chapters of The Red Ganges pulsate with action that hurtles on to the last page. Relationships turn topsy-turvy, emotions run high and buried secrets emerge, causing anguish and disappointment. There are hints of phantom murderers and ghosts, dreams and vengeance, all of which come together in a racy denouement that keeps the reader off balance.

#theredganges #novel #book #chrysanthemumchronicles #raktaganga #contemporarypublisher

 I am participating in the #WriteAPageADay Challenge by #Blogchatter in the month of February.

Buying Link: 

https://www.amazon.in/Red-Ganges-Rakta-Ganga/dp/8195430783/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1707411995&refinements=p_27%3AMonalisa+Joshi&s=books&sr=1-1

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