I recently had the pleasure of reading The Exiles by Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla (Harper Collins, 2011, Rs.350)The novel traces out the love triangle of Los Angles based banker Rahul, his beautiful and devoted wife Pooja, and Rahul's intellectual and artistic young lover, Atif.
The novel has a strong storyline and finely drawn, convincing characters. They falter and stumble through life seeking an elusive sense of belonging, of loving and being loved in return. The troubles they face, the upheavals in their lives, are partly the outcome of their own tragic flaws. The author succeeds in making us share the sensitivity and pain of these people; each a good human being in his or her own way. As we are drawn deeper into their intertwining stories, we feel deeply for them. We want to hug them and wipe their tears away. This intensely moving quality is one of the strongest points of this book.
My detailed review can be read in Sunday Herald
The book is also available outside India with the title The Two Krishnas. Book coupons are available online for The Exiles.
4 comments:
Great review, Moni. I liked the phrase 'The prose flows like a crystal clear stream.'
hi Gargi, nice to see you here. I really loved this book had style, good characters and story
and loads of emotion conveyed in a lovely way
he said he took 5 years to write it, and it shows
Reminds me of that film featuring Dipti naval, can't seem to remember the name, but was shot in London. Nice review, short and sweet Monideepa,
Julia
Do you mean 'Phir Bhi' Julia? I was still in school then, and couldn't understand all the nuances, but the neglected and abused wife's story haunted me. The Exiles is quite different, and with the gay love angle so exquisitely portrayed. And as for short reviews, 600-700 words is what SH gives us, and that's pretty decent length considering the low priority given by so many publications to books these days.
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