Book: A Home for Urvashi
Author: Sanchali Bhattacharya
Publisher: Harper Collins
Genre: Fiction/Fantasy
Pages: 345
Blurb:
Death separates Dulari from her beloved twin sister,
Ujjwala. Forlorn, her spirit remains on Earth as a powerless but constant
companion to Ujjwala. Like the apsara Urvashi, she has the power to travel
between worlds but no family, no one to love.
Dulari has a dream: she hopes to be reborn as Ujjwala s daughter and find a home for herself. Twenty-nine years have gone by, but her dream remains unfulfilled. There is hope, though, for Ujjwala has a son and now longs for a daughter.
Then arrives a man from Ujjwala s past. His presence upsets her life and sets into motion a series of events that threaten to destroy her completely. Only Dulari can save her sister, but to do that, she must relinquish her dream. Will Dulari intervene and protect Ujjwala, or will she wait and watch? Will her endless longing for life and belonging overpower the love she has for her sister?
Sensitively written and evocative, A Home for Urvashi depicts the bond of sisterhood that goes beyond life and death.
Dulari has a dream: she hopes to be reborn as Ujjwala s daughter and find a home for herself. Twenty-nine years have gone by, but her dream remains unfulfilled. There is hope, though, for Ujjwala has a son and now longs for a daughter.
Then arrives a man from Ujjwala s past. His presence upsets her life and sets into motion a series of events that threaten to destroy her completely. Only Dulari can save her sister, but to do that, she must relinquish her dream. Will Dulari intervene and protect Ujjwala, or will she wait and watch? Will her endless longing for life and belonging overpower the love she has for her sister?
Sensitively written and evocative, A Home for Urvashi depicts the bond of sisterhood that goes beyond life and death.
Review:
A Home for Urvashi is a story of different colors. It has
fun, grief, magical aspects and a long journey towards ones dream. The author
has penned a lot of emotions in this simplistic version of a highly fantasy
prone book.
When the books have a flashback narrative element in it half
of the work of a whimsical aura is done. I really loved how the story began. It
gave me the want to read more and know about the weird things one of the main
characters went on babbling about. From the very start it was clear that this
is not going to be a plain and naïve read.
As we progress new characters hits us and it’s amazing to
see so many different characters which particular traits, so very different from
each other. It makes it a huge party. From the whole lot I loved Ujjwala, for
her focused and one way mind which didn’t wavered throughout the book. I also
loved Yash though he came out to be more of a side character even though he was
majorly included in the book but still he didn't emerged as a strong character for me.
I also loved Rituraj for his way of dealing with things.
There was a charm in his actions, I liked him as a character and not a person
to be precise. I thought it was well constructed. I am somewhat in middle of my
liking for Dulari and Sooraj. They were okayish for me.
The story started off great but couldn’t maintain the same
pace for long. The book was fast paced due to the easy and flowy writing style
of the author and negligible editing blunders. But the story was slow and it didn’t
gave me any chills or excitement for a long-long time.
After about some 100 plus pages the story start getting its
real tempo. When things starts happening and secrets starts revealing it
becomes really exciting to see where the things will go. I can say easily that
the middle portion of the book was my favorite.
I couldn’t connect at all with the ending of the book though.
I thought it could have been so much better. It just felt it ended because
stories are meant to end. If the tale could have a more different approach
towards the wrap up, things could have touched another tangent.
Special mentions to the book cover; it is really pretty and can attract a reader way too much; because it speaks of freedom of womanhood and
of despair in some ways.
Summing up- I enjoyed the novel. I was flying through it after I managed to read the first fifty
or so pages. The writing style was good, very fluent and was easily connecting with my taste. If and only if there
could have been a grand wrap up to this unique story, the book could have done
wonders. Still it is a very enjoyable read. I think it is a genre free book and
any sort of reader can pick it up.
About the author:
An electrical engineer from Jadavpur University, Sanchali
Bhattacharya is a director in her own engineering and manufacturing company.
Sanchali's short stories have featured in The Statesman. She is married and has
a son. She lives in Kolkata.
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