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May 11, 2015

Book Review:The Wedding Trousseau & Other Short Stories by Ankita Sharma

Title:The Wedding Trousseau and Other Short Stories
Author:Ankita Sharma
Pages:135
Price:180 INR/-
Publisher:Humming Words 
Source:review copy(author)
amazon,flipkart
              

         (Ankita Sharma is a blogger and independent publisher,'The Wedding Trousseau.....' is her debut work as an author.You can read her blog posts at hummingwords)

          Short Fiction is the 'in' thing in the desi publishing arena.'The Wedding Trousseau and Other Short Stories' is a collection of eleven short tales of fiction which is inspired by the various shades of life(a welcome change from the assembly line 'anthologies of love' which hit the book stores every other week!).Though the stories don't have a common theme or character which link them,it's pretty evident that they are based on real people and incidents whom the author has met with/experienced in her day to day life.

         The best thing about Ankita's writing is the believability of her characters.From the timid lover in 'The Pink Card' to the hypocritical mother in 'One More Bite',Ankita's characters are all flesh and bones and having their own share of vices and virtues.The writer's attempts at making a satirical dig at the society and it's pretentious approach towards the underprivileged section of people do hit the bull's eye.From maternal bond to puppy love,Sharma explores varied themes through her short,yet poignant tales.The writing is so powerful that some of the stories do manage to disturb and shake you up totally('The Fresh Stock' and 'Courtesy').The writer deserves a pat on her back for giving us a genuine book like this and not succumbing to the 'market pressures'. 

         The book design and lay out are quite appealing with the spacing and font size being quite easy on the eyes.The Cover design is also quite competently done and suits the overall mood of the book.At just about 140 pages,the book is undoubtedly a quick read and can be easily finished in one sitting.

       The book is not entirely devoid of flaws either.As in the case of any collection of short-stories,this work too has got some tales which are quite mediocre.Some stories do miss the mark completely(though they are very few in number) and fail to leave any emotion in the reader's mind.Likewise,some of the stories have an 'incomplete' feel to them and leave you wanting for more!

Verdict-On the whole,this debut work by Ankita Sharma is a decent read and is totally worth your time and money.I'm giving it a 3.75 out of 5.

-nikhimenon

4 comments:

Ankita said...

Thanks a lot Nikhi, I am so happy you enjoyed the book :)

nikhimenon said...

you are welcome ankita.
waiting for your future works

Locomente said...

I had read the book too and quite agree with you. I had similar thoughts too!

nikhimenon said...

@locomente..

true.