Witnessing the last breaths of the British rule in Nairobi, Meena is trying to find herself and get her life back. Married as a young girl to Amar, a man she never had time to know, she is left alone, and all she has are her memories from the life spent in India with her family and friends. What one can do in such a case? Return back home? Focusing more on her current life and husband? Fighting for a life worth her dreams?
Lilas Skies by Shivani Bansal is a story of a woman´s strength to fight for herself against all odds. In order to be strong one doesn´t need to fly on roofs and share the wealth of the rich to the poor. Sometimes, making a choice to live or leave is the ultimate strength.
Meena is by far my favorite character in this book and I was definitely in love with her resilience and courage. The historical background for the story is definitely unique and the ambiance - both at the society and nature-related level - is very realistic. The relationships between characters are emotionally defined with strong bonds. I equally loved the writing, empathic while precise, tailored to the various characters and their emotional context(s).
Lilac Skies makes one think a lot about how to define and re-define home, what does it mean to be a home and how one can build a home beyond borders and societies. Especially in our fluid times it helps a lot to fuel the discussion.
Rating: 4 stars
Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own
No comments:
Post a Comment