"Oh! Come on mom. Till date, I don't know where my
father is! God knows where I should find him. After so many years, you gave me
a letter, he has left to me. Where is he now? Why were you trying to hide the
truth for so long? You slept with a black stranger when he came in the house as
if it's his own. He just came out of nowhere. Amaan has left me, and you want
me to watch some poppycock here on T.V? You never answered me who the stranger
was and why he stayed here for long."Kelly's cry echoes in the sea.
Kelly, girl with a thousand dreams, was happy with her mom
in a distant Island, Andaman, till she turned nineteen. A dark night…
sudden entry of a black stranger in her life. Unanticipated, he shares her
mom's bedroom. Passing through sleepless nights and intense depression,
she finds a secret diary that reveals a clandestine past, creating a tsunami in
Kelly's rhythmic life.Ricko, a Casanova, falls for her.
Unanticipated, he shares her mom's bedroom. Passing
through sleepless nights and intense depression, she finds a secret diary that
reveals a clandestine past, creating a tsunami in Kelly's rhythmic life. Ricko,
a Casanova, falls for her.
She finds Amaan, the boat maker on the sea, the superman she
needed.Will she be able to unfold her mom's haunted past and her cryptic love?
Do Kelly and her mom love the same man, the black stranger, a terrorist?
Leema Dhar (born 1993, Allahabad), 2nd year student of
Humanities in Allahabad University; completed her ISC from St. Mary's Convent.
She left her AIEEE for her creative passion. Her debut fiction, 'Till We Meet
Again' is a National Bestseller. Her first anthology of Hindi poems was 'Kuch
Lafz Naqab Mein' (2007), second in English 'For the Hundred Tomorrows' (2010).
She was nominated consecutive second time for Hindustan Times Women Achiever
Awards (2011 & 2012).
This is her second fiction that's thrilling yet has a pinch
of romance in it. She's currently working as a freelancer in numerous creative
projects.Besides enjoying creativity, her interest lies in psychology, an avid
reader of romance and thriller. She loves singing, painting and travelling and
along with becoming a writer, she wants to be one of the finest travelogues.
Her greatest inspiration has been the Andaman Islands, giving her an inexplicable
life, the darker hue of love.
My Opinion
Kelly is a nineteen year something who is peacefully living with her single mom in the island of Andaman. Like every girl, she is enjoying her college life as a student of Eng(Hons) first year. But all of a sudden a black stranger appears in her life. She finds it peculiar to see someone coming in their house whose identity is not disclosed properly. She is highly disturbed by his presence. Moreover, her mother is not too keen on letting out his identification apart from he being just a family friend. She finds her mother sneak into the guest room one night. She is angry on her mother for spending a night with an unknown person, she is heart broken to know that her mother is having an illicit affair with a man in the dark. She had always taken her mother as her inspiration. She even finds her mother ignoring her. All this brings her to the levels of frustration and she begins feel isolated in her own home.
In the meanwhile, her college mate Ricko seems to be getting attracted to her. Kelly experiences her first hug through Ricko. But there is someone who is her superman, someone who is very thoughtful and caring. He is someone towards whom Kelly finds herself getting attracted to. She doesn't know if it is love or not but there's something special in Amaan that draws her closer to him. His words work as the soothing sea for her.
But there is something that is haunting her? The black stranger, his relationship with her Mom and her dark past and the truth about her own Dad, the person about whom Kelly knows nothing. Will she be able to unveil the truth? Will a fatherless girl get her Dad back? Would Kelly be able to figure out her own feelings? Is Ricko the man of her dreams or is it the boat maker, her very own superman Amaan?
Coming to review, I would like to give a thumbs up to Leema for writing such a great read. She has very easily blended the thrill and romance. As a young author, Leema knows how to handle her characters quite effectively. Not even one scene looks irrelevant, just the right thing at the right place. The description of the sea in the books almost takes you to the Andaman. After reading this book, I have a strong urge to visit these islands. I have never been there before but the description when blended with Kelly's feelings compels you to travel to Port Blair. The emotions of a girl who has never known about her father and a girl who watches her mother sharing bed with a stranger have been handled very efficiently. The subtle and delicate emotions requires a strong thought process and Leema seems to have mastered this satisfactorily. I personally admired the character of Amaan even though Kelly happens to be the protagonist. His philosophy of life, from a new beginning to a beautiful ending, he had his own aura that set him apart. No wonder Kelly fell for him. I liked the way he says in his letter to Kelly that he doesn't know what love is but being with her brings back the happy times of life.
It's like being with you means, being myself.
The letter from Amaan can be considered as one of the most beautiful parts of the book. There are a lot of diary entries which keep the suspense on.
Apart the book has a very intriguing title with a very soothing yet attractive book cover. Kudos to the cover designer.
Now coming to the flaws of the book, the editing is pretty good except for one or two errors which are going to be eliminated in the second edition as per the author. But there's one thing I need to point out is that on Page 39, the diary states
LILI MATHEW
M.A(Previous) Calcutta University
But on Page 46, the diary owner writes her course as M.Sc(previous)
So we need a correction here.
Okay now, I am done with stating the cons of this book. And frankly speaking, we can easily overlook these drawbacks as the book has an amazing plot with good writing skills.
After reading this book, I am planning to read Leema's debut work 'Till We Meet Again' which is a national bestseller. And I am damn excited about her next novel 'The Girl Who Kissed The Snake' which will be hitting the stores by May next year.
Grab your copies from here
Read the my gupshup with the author here
