Book Review : Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

I have taken pride in saying that all my book reviews, for the most part, have been spoiler free. And today I am preparing to violate that.

It genuinely serves twice as hard to review a book like Forbidden when the reader feels a multitude of emotions on a particularly taboo subject. I scoured Goodreads reviews, blog reviews, Booktube reviews and debated whether writing about this book would make me seem like a lunatic to my readers or would they be intrigued.

All I can say at this point is to proceed with caution and with a good measure of open-mindedness.

This book is about incest. Well, not really but it is about an incestuous relationship between 17-year-old Lochan and his sister, 16-year-old Maya. Tabitha Suzuma is brave to take on such a taboo subject and pushes the reader to challenge their morals on this truly 'Forbidden' case.

Our young characters are placed in a tumultuous family setting - their parents' marriage has fallen apart, causing their father to completely abandon them with no support or communication, we learn that he has re-married and moved to Australia with his new family; their mother is an obvious alcohol, absent from their lives while she spends all her time (and money) with her new boyfriend, as the book progresses, her appearances are scarce. So Lochan and Maya assume parental roles for their 13-year-old angsty brother Kit and the little siblings Tiffin and Willa. (ALL the characters in the book could do with better names, let's not fool around and admit this fact already.)

So you can kind of see how psychologically this proves to be a dangerous environment for all five of the kids - Lochan, with his deep and extreme anxiety leaving Maya as his only friend and confidant and Maya, who has to mature rather quickly in order to handle everyone's issues including Lochan's.

Now we know incest is bad. It's very bad, it's illegal and it's not normal. But as you begin to read this book, you just never see them as siblings at all, compared to the creepiness i.e Flowers in the Attic. The incestuous part only kicks in well into the second half of the book, both Lochan and Maya are tormented because they know its wrong, it's not normal and if anyone found out anything they would be at the risk of being separated by the state, serve jail time etc. The book by no means propagates the idea of incest but you also feel like you don't want to use the word incest for what Maya and Lochan have.

The interesting observation here is that while society accepts abusive relationships, broken homes, and abandoned families etc; is incest really the worst of the lot? (I swear I am NOT crazy). Like I mentioned, when you do read the book you also desperately want them to find a way to be together, also knowing the fact that it could never happen and its plain absurd. I just love it when books have that kind of power over the reader.

*The Spoilers*

It was not very long before trouble finds them and the consequences are grave. At this point I had semi-predicted the outcome, however, I was not prepared to read a complete, play by play suicide in the first person. And that is quite traumatic. Lochan gives up his life and takes the reader with him on how ends it all. This will physically shake you. It almost feels like all the happiness is sucked out of you.

You could see why he took this route as the only option to keep the family together but at the same time, you feel angry at him for leaving the family behind, for Maya to deal with this pain and for Kit to deal with the unbearable guilt. That would start a whole new argument about suicides and I'm not going to get into that.

A multitude of emotions, right there.

The problems: 

Overall I felt character development was poor. We know a lot about Lochan, what he feels and how he thinks but none for Maya and Kit. We don't know what Maya is like, what she thinks or feels, how she behaves etc. Same goes with Kit. We only see him as a sort of troublemaker and that's it; which I felt was not fair since being the middle child in a broken family is difficult.

The pacing is off for me. We have no idea what Lochan's and Maya's childhood was like, what kind of dynamic they had growing up, so it does seem very sudden that these feelings for each other erupt.

Since Lochan is 17, his development in terms of attraction to women seems late. Was there no other girl he ever got close to in his early teens? Same goes with Maya, surely there had to be some flirtatious encounter with boys her age other than the two set-up dates.

Regardless of all the flaws, I will still applaud Tabitha Suzuma for taking on her chances and writing this book.

Final Rating: 3/5

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Book Review : Raj Quartet I, The Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott

Let's just begin by saying that your new yardstick for excellent writing has to be Paul Scott and it's a sentiment well echoed by various reviewers on Goodreads.

Pushing aside all the Rudyard Kipling novels, Jim Corbet, Salman Rushdie etc,  Colonial India couldn't be more descriptive than Paul Scott's Raj Quartet and none other (I will fight you on this).

It's not an exaggeration. Scott's impressive knowledge of India is multifaceted, inter-sectional and dives vertically. I am amazed at the mammoth and detailed understanding of caste, religion, communities, landscape, politics; all craftily woven into a magnificent quartet.

At the heart of the story, we have Hari Kumar or Harry Coomer, alien to India and Daphne Manners, who desperately tries to make India her home. Both of our protagonists pursue a  frowned-upon friendship that quickly turns problematic during the dying days of the British rule. Daphne Manners is violated by a gang of hooligans and the suspicion falls on Hari Kumar.

Through their forbidden romance and  cruel love triangle, we come face to face with the riot-ravaged India. Get ready to let your heart bleed for Daphne Manners and the forged criminality of Hari Kumar.  The plot then takes an ugly turn with Daphne Manners was soon shamed by people of her own color and ranks. Scott's deft writing builds the tension yet manages to retain sensitivity of this cursed affair.

My attempt at reviewing this book in relation to its towering magnificence is feeble. There are delicate subtleties in Scott's allegory and the reader is swift ushered into darker days, lighter times, is familirised to the smells and sounds of the country, riots, war, love, and friendship.

the indigo dreams of flowers fallen asleep

It's a tragic oxymoron to have a story so searingly painful to be laced with poetic delight.

For a humble reader, The Jewel in the Crown would stand as a challenge. The timelines of incidents bounce back and forth, we are introduced to characters one after the other only for their relations to be revealed much later on, it could prove quite complicated to find the association of all the individuals mentions. I did catch myself skimmy through the politics to get to the more paced bits and this is the only reason I would cut points for.

I was introduced to this poignant Quartet when my father was watching the televised series, complete with a commentary on Paul Scott's life and work. It's a pity recognition wasn't rendered any sooner.
Both books and series are highly recommended for their skillful depictions and varied sentiments of the imperialist rule, the tragedies amidst and the ultimate demise.

For a literature lover, the Raj Quarter is a wonderful treat. Like the sweet sorrow of a lullaby.

Final Rating : 4/5

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Book Review : Summer Crossing by Truman Capote

A shocking end to an awry romance and a romance that you perhaps wished, never ignited in the first place.

If like me , you too were allured by the rosy cover, dreamy title and the credible author then perhaps our sentiments would match.

After the raving success of his Non-Fiction Crime novel, In Cold Blood and the darling endeavors of Breakfast at Tiffany's, one hardly expect anything less from Mr. Capote and his ability to enrapture you in a tale simple yet magnificent.
So just like me, you pick this book excitedly dreaming of another masterful story that leaves you longing for more, only to have your expectations sorely hurt.

Feel free to weep your disappointment or swear profusely if you must - I'm not ready to do that just yet.
It's not long before the reader understands the difference between Grady McNeil and Clyde Manzer. A young high society girl and her steamy affair with a working-class gentleman, set in New York soon after World War II (honey, it's never going to work).

Obviously, their relationship is rampant and reckless with barely any room (left) for character development or any ambition. Clyde Manzer seems insipid, Grady made me roll my eyes and before you know it, disaster has struck speedingly chased by tragedy (quite literally).

At this point, every Capote fan would be shaking their heads in disapproval wondering why would anyone want to publish this?
Don't dismiss it just yet. As many flaws and faults, there may be, this is where we see the literary skill of  19-year-old Capote and some skill did he have.

It's simple, well-strung and absolutely gorgeous if you pay attention to the language.  Capote knows how to convey sentiments and emotions with just the right adjectives and trust me when I say, it's a real treat. You can almost see why Capote would have been ashamed of this book since it doesn't really live up to the mark as some of his most renowned work.

For no real reason, I found myself oddly comparing Summer Crossing to Brooklyn by Colm Toibin - both the female leads were filling the empty voids in their lives with, let's say, romance from men not quite from their alley and life doesn't seem to get better from there for either.

My suggestion would be to hang on until the end of Summer Crossing if you could endure it. An author's maiden novel almost always says more about themselves as individuals than the story itself. It's almost like a quick glimpse into their own character before they pursue more successful ventures and I'm certain genuine Capote fans would appreciate this little insight.

Overall Rating: 3/5

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A Little Detour

When you feel the impulse to do something completely off the chart and the impulse get's so strong that you almost can't think of anything else, then it's best to go forth with it.

Such an impulse struck me all day today when I wasn't in the mood to brew up another review, instead I wanted to share some more randomness. The past few days of this year were spent 9000ft above on the mountains and in the valleys of India. Finding serenity or being brave in the cold- call it what you may. As the year's motto for me is to 'Take it Easy', I'm loosening up from the monotony of literary content to share some things that just might be purely pleasing to look at and nothing more. Without getting too personal and crossing the boundary of oversharing, I hope you are will enjoy glancing through these little tit-bits of India as I rediscover it anew.

Change is always good.

View from a remote point from our drive in and around Shimla

Summer capital of the British

Our little trek to Mall Road was scenic as ever

Breakfast table view 

Turn around to face the stunning topography of Himachal at every corner

School's out - snow day at a local school

Serenity - the trees whisper cold wind in your ears

Hope you enjoyed this little visual treat, even if managed to refresh you for a minute. I'll be back with more reviews soon.

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