Author: Dinesh Prasad
To summarise the book in a single line: This book will consume you in its throes and you will be drowning in the ocean of brilliant literary play before you know it.
With a sheer dance of figures of speech garnishing the poetic flawless language and narrative the book captivates you from the go.
The narrative is in the form of second person POV throughout and that itself shows the author’s calibre. He hasn’t swayed away even once from the plot that could have happened in this form of narrative. The thirst protagonist Mahesh is the narrator. the story revolves around Frieda, Alfie and Mahesh and their interpersonal relationships spanning a lifetime…
Frieda is forced to marry Alfie after her beau leaves her stranded at the altar. Five years of loveless marital life is filled with despair for the couple. Frieda can’t give her heart to Alfie while Alfie can’t seem to forget how much he loves Frieda. Mahesh is Alfie’s close friend who storms into Frieda’s life one fine day and remains an integral part of her life. The myriad personalities of seven sons born to her from Mahesh have been artistically described and it throws light on Frieda’s relationship with her husband whom she never left and cared for till the end and her paramour. At a glance, one may judge and hate Frieda for the kind of woman she seemed especially having strayed in her marriage.
The author has painted Frieda’s character with a plethora of personality colours that leave the reader wondering till the end about her innermost desires. Yet she is worshipped, is looked upon with enigmatic views, with lust and with gay abandon.
That according to me is the book’s USP
There is a line towards the end of the book, “The seeds we sow do not bring life until the seeds die and are consumed…” This is profound and defines the crux of the narrative.
A well-recommended read for lovers of literature, drama and pathos.
