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(Dear ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’, on paper I’m forced to give you only five stars. I want you to know that if I could, I’d give you all the stars in the sky.) If you haven’t read Delia Owens’ debut novel, I suggest you drop everything you are doing and curl up with the book. I’m saying this because I regret not doing so when my friend recommended it almost a year ago. He told me it was perhaps the most beautiful book he’d read. And he is a voracious reader.

 I wanted to kick myself for buying the book and letting it sit on the shelf for so long before eventually picking it up. I should have gotten around to it sooner; I berated myself over and over again. Everything about the book is gorgeous—the writing, the setting, the characters, the descriptions of nature and the marsh, and the way the author has woven suspense into the story.

A coming-of-age story of a girl named Kya Clark who lives alone in a shack in the swamplands of North Carolina after being abandoned by her family, Where the Crawdads Sing is a captivating read. Owens is a retired wildlife biologist and she intersperses the story with a lot of information about nature’s various elements, blurring the line between fiction and non-fiction in places. But at no point does it seem like she’s lecturing; nor do the descriptions take away from the story.

Instead, she enthralls and educates you at the same time. Apparently, the book has been criticized for being too trope-heavy. Some say that a courtroom drama can’t exist alongside life in the marshes. But it sold more than four million copies in a little over a year since its publication, foreign rights were sold in 41 countries, and it’s also being adapted into a film being produced by Reese Witherspoon.

Kya is a fascinating and lovable character. She teaches herself to survive in a hostile world and manages to get by just fine. There are some kind people who help her along the way—like a shopkeeper who buys the fish she catches and a boy named Tate who teaches her to read—who reinforce your belief in humanity.

Set in the 1950s and 60s, the book also deals heavily with racism, with a few uplifting scenes like a judge declaring people can sit wherever they want in his courtroom and that those who have a problem with it can leave. It opens with a body being discovered in the swamp and then jumps back and forth between the past and the present to tell a story of loneliness and courage. You will be rooting for Kya all the way through and the end will leave you happy and heartbroken at the same time.

Two stars

Fiction

Scythe

Neal Schusterman

Published: 2016

Publisher: Walker Books Ltd

Pages: 440, Paperback

‘Scythe’ by Neal Schusterman is set in a utopian world where humans have conquered poverty, various social ills, and even death. There are no diseases, people don’t die of old age—they can reset their age when they feel like it, and if they get into accidents or such, they are taken to revival centers where they are brought back to life in a few days.

However, the only habitable planet is the earth. Missions to the moon and mars have failed. And so, the population needs to be curtailed, which is why there are these groups of people known as the scythes who have the power to ‘glean’ (meaning kill) people at their own discretion. Each scythe has a quota of people whose lives they have to end within a certain time. So scythes are equally revered and feared in this world where everything is seemingly perfect.

However, though scythes are supposed to glean without bias and killing people isn’t supposed to be enjoyable, there are some corrupt ones who treat it like a hunting sport, choosing to glean in mass and loving the bloodbath. Teenagers Citra and Rowan are taken in as scythe apprentices. Following their year-long training, they are told one of them will become a scythe and the other will go back to his/her old life. But halfway into their training, it’s decided that the winner will have to glean the other.

The two, who are mutually attracted, don’t know how to deal with this new development but each is determined to save the other. They also discover that some scythes are breaking the rules, terrorizing people and killing mercilessly. The two apprentices suddenly find themselves thrust into a world where nothing is as it seems and the future of humanity is at stake.

The writing is good. The story is okay. Scythe isn’t boring but it’s not as fascinating as it could have been. I didn’t want to give up on it as I wanted to know if and how Citra and Rowan would escape their doomed fate. Things do happen that make you gasp and shudder but these are few and far between, making it a slow read.

There are all these interesting ideas about how life would be if you had everything you ever wanted and there was no conflict whatsoever. It gets you thinking but it’s not enough to keep you hooked. All in all, Scythe is forgettable but good enough for a leisurely read.

Four stars

Fiction

House of Hollow

Krystal Sutherland

Published: 2021

Publisher: Hot Key Books

Pages: 300, Paperback

Strange things have always happened around the Hollow sisters—Grey, Vivi, and Iris—ever since they disappeared as children and reappeared a month later with no memory of the past. It was like they were reborn on the day they came back. Their father, Gabe Hollow, thinks something is wrong with them. Not only were their eyes and hair different, they also felt like strangers. He drives himself mad trying to work out the reason and eventually kills himself.

The girls settle into their daily routine with their mother but Grey and Vivi drop out of school and move out of their home to pursue their ‘dreams’. Grey becomes a model and designer while Vivi plays in a band. Iris, on the other hand, lives with their mother and goes to school. She (or rather her mother) hopes she will become a doctor one day. Then, 10 years later, Grey goes missing. And someone seems to be after Vivi and Iris.

The key to finding and saving Grey (as well as making sure the figure lurking in the shadows isn’t able to get to them) lies in decoding what happened all those years ago. Grey has left them clues and while trying to piece things together, they discover sinister and shocking secrets.

‘House of Hollow’ by Krystal Sutherland has a very sinister feel to it. Grey feels a little off, like she isn’t who she claims to be or maybe she knows more than she’s telling. Does she remember what happened when they disappeared? Why does the clothes she designs smell like rot and death? And can she really manipulate people’s minds to do as she wishes them to? Where does this power come from?

There are so many questions that make you want to keep turning the pages, despite your palms being slick with fear while reading this haunting tale where flowers spurt from wounds and a bull-horned creature, possibly from the other world, is on the prowl.

Also read: ‘The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina’ book review: A class of its own

I don’t usually read horror novels. This was my first since ‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelly many, many years ago so I had forgotten how traumatizing it can be. An eerie feeling dominates your days when you are reading a well-executed horror story, and House of Hollow, with its beautiful writing and carefully crafted characters, gets under your skin.

The family drama makes the story relatable and emotional. Mother-daughter relationship is a crucial aspect of the narrative. Sutherland has woven many other strong themes into the plot. House of Hollow isn’t just a horror story. It deals with grief, love, obsession, the price of fame and beauty, and the bond between siblings. It’s a slim volume with a lot going that will have you marveling at Sutherland’s ability to keep it concise in such a compelling story.

One star

 Fiction

The Golden Rule

Amanda Craig

Published: 2020

Publisher: Abacus

Pages: 391, Paperback

I’m giving ‘The Golden Rule’ by Amanda Craig one star but I wish I could add a minus sign before it. It’s just horrible. The writing is preachy and pretentious. The plot, though intriguing (two women meet on a train and agree to kill each other’s husbands), isn’t well-developed and thus unconvincing. I cringed several times throughout the book. I was angry. I was upset. I felt talked down to as the writer almost screams at you to make you think the way she does. I couldn’t connect or empathize with the protagonist, Hannah, so entitled and annoying. I don’t have a single good thing to say about this book. It could have been a much shorter and better read had Craig decided to do away with her ‘social messages’ and just worked on the story.

 I hadn’t heard about the author but I picked up The Golden Rule as it had been longlisted for The Women’s Prize in Fiction in 2021. Also, the blurb was interesting and Bernardine Evaristo, author of ‘Girl, Woman, Other’, which won the 2019 Booker Prize, called Craig ‘a skillful storyteller who vividly dramatizes our lives with wit, wisdom, and compassion’. But wit and compassion are exactly the things that are lacking in The Golden Rule.

 The characters come across as snooty and rough when they are trying to be nonchalant and smart. The dialogues are mundane and clichéd. There is an instance where Hannah’s husband hits her and Stan, the guy she is supposed to kill but ends up being attracted to, rushes to defend her. Hannah’s response to that, ‘Please, stop, I don’t need rescuing by the patriarchy’ made me want to violently fling the book from the terrace of my home, which was where I was reading at that point. Who speaks like that? Who writes like that? It’s the worst line ever written.

Also Read: Panauti: Past – Present (1976-2020) photobook review: Nostalgia galore

 The author has tried to tackle so many issues at once that everything feels forced and fake. There’s the issue of Brexit with Craig scrambling to explain why those who voted out did so. There’s domestic violence, single parenting, the rich-poor divide, losing a loved one to cancer, and how messy and complicated divorce can be. It’s almost like Craig felt the need to address all these important issues just to have a say in the matter.

 Then, she also brings in race, religion, LGBTIQA+, and acid attack in the last 100 pages. They are there as an afterthought—Craig probably went ‘oh wait, I didn’t include these issues’ and hurriedly made things up, adding a line here, a paragraph there. The book is an utter mockery of serious issues that isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.

Photobooks are a delight. You can get lost in their pages for hours, forgetting all the mundanities of life. But rarely will you come across a photobook that not only feels like a visual treat but is also a vital documentation of our history and culture. ‘Panauti: Past – Present (1976-2020)’ by Gérard Toffin and Prasant Shrestha is one of those important works of creative genius. The book, with its many then and now photos of Panauti—a municipality in the Kavrepalanchok District in Bagmati Province, 32 kilometers southeast of Kathmandu—documents the changes in the city’s architectural landscape.

Toffin, emeritus director of research CNRS (French National Center for Scientific Research), had carried out several in-depth studies in Panauti in the 1970s, surveying the local population, its traditions, and social and religious organizations. In 2010, Toffin met Shrestha, a native of Panauti, while attending the Makar Mela, a month-long festival organized every 12 years at the confluence of Punyamati and Roshi rivers. Both of them felt the need to highlight the local cultural heritage and make people aware of the threats of rampant urbanization. Thus, the idea of the book was born.

The French Embassy in Nepal and the Alliance Française in Kathmandu collaborated to bring out the book because of France’s special relationship with Panauti. Over the years, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and various French agencies have been involved in an ambitious renovation project aimed at preserving Panauti’s architectural heritage.

Toffin says one of the most challenging aspects of the project was to portray an old Nepali city through images and not just words. “This kind of attempt has rarely been made in the field of social anthropology, especially when you have to document changes,” says Toffin. Working with a local meant Toffin had an insider view and the book benefits from that perspective. The result is an informative and insightful account of Panauti and its rich heritage. 

Panauti: Past – Present (1976-2020)

Photobook
Text: Gérard Toffin
Photos: Gérard Toffin and Prasant Shrestha
Published: April 2021
Pages: 114, Hardcover 

Then

Now

A general view of the Tribeni confluence religious precinct . On the right, Krishna temple with its three stacked roofs. The dead from surrounding villages cremated there on the ghats. Newar inhabitants of Panauti are cremated at the opposite riverbank in 1977 (then) and 2020 (now).

Then

Now

South-west entrance to the city, on the Roshi Khola River in 1976 (then) and 2020 (now).

Then

Now

Indreshvar Mahadev temple in its square-shaped compound theoretically closed by four gates in all its four cardinal points in then (1977) and now (202).

Then

Now

Entrance to the city, bus station in 1976 (then) and 2020 (now).

Then

Now

Agha Tol neighborhood, crossing of trade routes, near the alleged site of the ancient Royal Palace in 1976 (then) and 2020 (now).

I like stories that I can relate to, with characters that force me to look at people around me in a different light. Narratives that leave me pondering life and its idiosyncrasies, make me feel good as a sweet-smelling cup of tea on a warm winter Saturday morning when you know you have absolutely nothing to do, nowhere to be. They are just so comforting—the balm your soul needs to heal from the tiny daggers of everyday life. That is primarily why I’m not very fond of fantasy. It transports you to a different world but offers nothing more that can help you adapt to the realities of life. Then, once in a while, I will come across books like Zoraida Cordova’s ‘The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina’ that is not only the perfect escapism but also a lesson on love, faith, and remaining true to yourself. 

The stunning work of magical realism is about Ecuadorian and Ecuadorian-American Montoya families fighting to save themselves from an unknown danger that has its roots in Orquídea Divina’s obscure past. The book begins with Orquídea summoning her entire family to their home in Four Rivers to collect their inheritance. But upon arriving to lay claims to their share of the family wealth, they find Orquídea is slowly transforming into a tree. 

Narrated in dual timelines, the story alternates between Orquídea’s grandchildren Marimar and Rey and their cousins as they try figure the secrets of the matriarch’s past, and Orquídea’s own journey from childhood to adulthood and all the decisions and mistakes she made along the way. The novel was apparently expanded from a YA short story about Marimar that Cordova wrote for an anthology titled ‘Toil and Trouble’.

Also read: ‘Daisy Jones & The Six’ book review: Beyond marvelous

 The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina is more than fantasy. It’s an intergenerational family drama that shines the spotlight on the choices we make and their consequences on our loved ones. Orquídea is such a fascinating character and throughout the book you keep discovering new things about her. It makes you realize every person is multi-layered, that what you see is just a small fraction of all there is to them. 

There are times the characters speak your mind, especially when they are processing grief or consoling a loved one, reminding you that we are all guided and bound by our shared emotions. Best of all, it’s such an immersive story that you won’t be able to think of much else while reading it.

The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina

Five stars 
Fiction
Zoraida Cordova
Published: 2021
Publisher: Atria Books
Pages: 323, Hardcover

I will read anything Taylor Jenkins Reid writes because she does so beautifully. Her words resonate on a different level. I generally use sticky notes to mark pages in books so that I can flip to that place and feel that emotion all over again when the mood strikes but I’d have to mark entire chapters in Reid’s books, so I don’t even bother. She understands people and their complex emotions, and she writes with so much empathy that you find yourself feeling bad for even the most unlikeable of characters.

I absolutely loved ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ which was the first Reid book I ever read. Since then, I’ve read a few of her other works and they have all been equally good. I recently read ‘Daisy Jones & The Six’, one of her most popular and hyped books, and I was completely hooked and overwhelmed. I wanted to get to the end but didn’t want the story to finish.

Daisy Jones & The Six is a novel about the rise and fall of a fictional 70s rock band so there’s a lot of sex, drugs, music, travel, heartache, pain and love to deal with. Apparently, Reid only researched for about six weeks but she’s written about the lives of rock and roll artists as if she’s lived it. She’s even written lyrics to songs that you want to sing along to. Your heart breaks a little when you remember Daisy Jones & The Six and their albums don’t actually exist. On a hopeful note, Reese Witherspoon is planning a limited series based on the book so the songs might actually get made.

Also read: ‘Watch Over Me’ book review: Slow but stunning

The story is told in a transcript format as the band members are being interviewed for a book. I liked this interactive style. You feel you are a part of the conversation, that the characters are talking to you, telling you their deepest secrets and sharing their fears and frustrations. There are basically two stories: that of Daisy Jones, the barefoot bangle-wearing singer-songwriter who is stunning with a voice to match, and that of Billy Dunne, the denim-wearing guitarist and frontman for the rock band The Six.

When Daisy and the band team up, they become an overnight sensation. But not all is well within the band where rivalries run deep and love runs deeper. Though Daisy and Billy have all your attention, there are others like Camila, Billy’s wife; band members Graham and Karen; and manager Rod who you enjoy getting to know. And then there is the nagging question at the back of your head: who is taking the interview, telling the story? When you sort of figure that out along the way and eventually find out why, it makes for a very emotional moment and a mind-blowingly satisfying end.

Daisy Jones & The Six

Five stars 
Taylor Jenkins Reid
Published: 2019
Publisher: Arrow Books
​Pages: 401, Paperbac

I generally don’t enjoy slow reads but Nina LaCour’s books are absolute gems. And they have stunning covers that take your breath away. LaCour’s writing is sparse and neat and the stories she tells are simple yet haunting. If you haven’t read her yet, I can’t recommend her enough. ‘Watch Over Me’ might feel a little off if you aren’t used to LaCour’s style but if you don’t mind something different to what you usually read, you’re in for a treat. An eerie ghost story about recovering from trauma and finding yourself, Watch Over Me is bittersweet and fills you with hope.

After graduating from high school and aging out of the foster care system, Mila takes up a teaching job in an isolated part of Northern California coast. She takes this as a chance to begin life afresh and maybe find a new home. But the farm is haunted—by ghosts of the past. Everybody there has suffered abuse, abandonment or neglect to a degree.

Mila too has her issues. Having lived with an abusive man (her mother’s boyfriend) who manipulated them till he died and a mother who didn’t care about her much, there are things that she still struggles to accept and understand. She also has secrets that haunt her. As a teacher at the facility, her job is to help the wards under her care. But the children and other adults at the farm might have a role to play in helping Mila overcome her grief and issues as well. The road to recovery isn’t an easy one though.

Also read: ‘Everything Everything’ book review: Heart-wrenching and compelling 

Watch Over Me is a short book but quite profound. The story is told in dual timelines but the stunning contrasting imagery doesn’t leave much room for confusion. Mila, at times, feels like an unreliable narrator. You are confused whether the ghosts and the tokens of the past that she finds at the farm are real, conjured up by her own mind, or tricks people around her are playing on her. This aspect of the story makes it a compelling read. There is also a horde of other characters who feel like people you know and lend the story a warm, comforting feel.  

You can finish the book in a single afternoon but you won’t be able to pick up anything else immediately after. This beautiful story of self-exploration and growth that makes you realize that the real demons live inside you in the form of fear, insecurities, and trauma will stay with you for a while.

Watch Over Me

Three and half stars
Nina LaCour
Published: 2020
Publisher: Dutton Books
Pages: 261, Paperback