Encounters
Someone's Always Waiting
Someone's Always Waiting
by
Sumana Khan
Blurb
ENCOUNTERS is a potpourri of five sumptuous stories involving a motley crew of protagonists. Skating along the borders of fantasy and paranormal themes, the stories track incredible and poignant journeys of self-discovery, tracing the cathartic aftermath of fleeting encounters.
Book Review
Having read her first book The Revenge of Kaivalya and become a fan of Sumana Khan's writing and the way she deals with the paranormal and fantasy elements with ease, I had high hopes from Encounters too. I am sure anyone who has read Kaivalya, irrespective of whether they like the genre or not, will have the same opinion. Encounters is a collection of 5 stories that are at the same time very normal yet so very abnormal.
The first story is the one that I liked the most. Ratna falls in love with the mighty Vrka who would do anything to keep her safe. As time goes on she feels he is merely an illusion. But again, some of the incidents that happen to people around her makes it difficult for Ratna to accept that Vrka is merely an illusion.
The next tale, The Storyteller, talks of something very sad and relatable to most of us. We have seen the pain and the trauma, but all of us may not have gone through it. While reading the story, the ending is almost guessable, but then Sumana's descriptions have a way of their own - you want to lap up every word she writes.
Reminiscence is all about love and closure, seeing things from different angles and evaluating your relationship based on that. Reminiscing over a marriage of 35 years makes for an interesting read.
Happiness Clinic is one where we all will stand at some point or the other. After all the duties of an employed man, he wants to spend the rest of his time in peace with his wife. Fate makes him meet Dr. Sheshadri with whom he has an immediate connection. It is then that Sheshadri sees what he has been doing all this while to his loved ones.
Best Friends Forever is a creepy story about a girl who is possessed and her best friend. The only question that remains is, is her friend for real or is she too a figment of someone's imagination or a spirit?
The fact that she knows psychology is crystal clear in her writing, for she knows how exactly to appeal to our psyche. There is a very human touch to every story, because each one of it talks about the relationships we all have. I loved the book and read it from cover to cover and very soon will read it again. I really hope Sumana decides to write some more.
Grab your Copy @
You can get this book directly from the Publisher
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sumana was born and raised in Bengaluru, Karnataka, where she went on to graduate with a BSc in Electronics, much to the surprise of her teachers, and relief of her parents. In what can only be described as a quirk of fate, she ended up as an IT consultant - a role she essayed for more than a decade. She then moved to the UK where she quit her job and pursued academic and literary interests. The result of this pursuit has been two Masters, one published book, quite a few manuscript drafts, and above all, being stone-broke perpetually.
She currently lives in the UK with her husband and several books.
Stalk her @
.png){kind=small}
Thank you for the lovely review.
ReplyDelete