A book that talks about various societal issues, the emotions of young teenage children getting bullied and some other raw emotions of being human. The book is a collection of short stories, that are crisp and written in a simple narrative style. The characters are real people and have flaws, they have sadness, a strange void in them, and mostly they are trying to be heard and seen.
The title story ‘Fragrance of Dried Flowers’ shows a struggle of a daughter who somehow feels that no matter what she does she never becomes her mother’s favourite child. But something happens in the end that changes the mother’s outlook towards her. This story was resonating and relatable as every child who suffers neglect from their parents tries hard to be seen. We see the real and same challenge faced by Taru in the story.
Then we see a suppressed Amina who is not able to take a stand neither for herself nor for her daughter, she suffers domestic violence and leads a life with varied fears. How she finds a slight respite by the community driven rule enforced upon the Councilor of the society.
The stories are real, of real people and don’t take you anywhere in fantasy land, rather it’s a strong and truthful reflection of the flawed society, the people, and the ones who suffer into it. Their ordeals are real, and so is their struggle to escape from it. Overall, a crisp and fast read for lovers of short fiction. The hypocrisy, the stereotypical mindsets, the real atrocities towards women, the bourgeois lifestyle pressure, you find everything in this book of short stories. I would surely recommend it to young readers to give it a read.
Barnali Roy is an accomplished author with two books of short stories to her credit. Her first published book, Pebbles in the Sand, was well appreciated by readers. She published her second book, Fragrance of Dried Flowers, last December. It's a collection of slice of life short stories about urban young people grappling with problems that are common in today's world. A girl is taunted constantly by her mother. An examination result shatters a young student. Grappling with the trauma of childhood abuse, a girl is hardened and embittered till she helps another of her kind. A prolific writer and blogger, Barnali Roy loves reading, reviewing books and films, travel and food. She maintains two blogs: Https://barnaliviews.blogspot.com Https://yummyfoodinkolkata.blogspot.com
Review by Monalisa Joshi, Founder & Director of Chrysanthemum Chronicles: A Contemporary Publishing House
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