Book review: Girl before a mirror by Lisa Palmer

Title: Girl before a mirror
Author: Lisa Palmer
Publisher:William Morrow/Harpercollins
Price: $14.99
Page:384
ISBN:9780062297242
Genre: Women's fiction/Contemporary/
Source: Library

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Before I begin let me share some happy news with all you guys, its is been a while that I have posted her.. The one posted was pretty much in my drafts  for long so to be honest this is my first post in a while .In between I got married (i know i know) moved across the globe (wow) , now that I'm pretty much settled in the new place and  found my groove , I thought I should start again.Plus library is just few blocks away dada... so here at my new home Im building my new Kindle library and books borrowed from library.

This book I picked firstly for its title, opened a random page and read these quote

"It's hard being woman. Especially being everyone's idea of what being a woman should be.What we want it is to be okay to be just you. All of you. And to know that that's not only good enough, but downright heroic."

Some words you see !

But I was sort of a let down when the book opened up to a 40th birthday celebration of the protagonist Anna Wyatt whose  being divorced is emphasized plus the fact that she is not very happy with her career her introduction also paves way to our understanding that these are just beginning of her twisted life and after few pages one being her lonely childhood next her alcoholic brother .

She decides to get control of her life and build a fulfilling career  for which  she  gives her heart and soul in reviving Luminex shower gel with a new client . Starting up she is assigned with a new young , beautiful and talented colleague Sasha. Anna realizes that her young colleague is beautiful and when you almost think that there would more drama author quickly establishes depth into Anna's character which was very stimulating to keep reading. Anna is intelligent, resourceful, supportive of her younger counterpart, funny in her own way with a very positive outlook in general.I also loved how Palmer projects other female character as well with not much drama very satisfying characters who don't go overboard.

Anna is introduced to a self help book- Be the heroine, find your hero.Though not swept way by romantic novel initially unlike Sasha through the course  she starts to consider its claim..The plot where Anna meets her prince charming Anna , Lincoln a British  financial consultant whom she meets at the hotel during her convention sounds like a page from princess diaries, but you don't really complain as Palmer establishes her characters who openly disapprove romantic novel only outside while loving them every bit inside and even dreaming about it. Ending is very predictable still you enjoy it.

Though not a big fan of romantic novel I do like a change here and there.This is the kind of book you wouldn't rave about still enjoy on a relaxing day with too many interesting quotes about life, some of which are

"I want to be happy and not feel guilty about it.I want to be accepted regardless of what I look like, what I do for a living, my marital status, whether I have kids. I want Purpose, Contentment. to matter, freedom..I want to be. Just be."

Book Review :Life and Times of Michael K by J.M Coetzee

Title: Life and times of Michael K
Author:J.M Coetzee
Publisher:Vermillon
Pages:192
Price: Rs 399
ISBN:009947915X
Genre: fiction
Rating: 4 out of 5
Source: Personal


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Summary
 Michael hare-lipped (that becomes his identity)  sets on a journey with his ailing mother to her hometown..Civil war makes it difficult for them to move with no paper and permission, to make it hard his mother dies , yet he moves ahead with her ashes through, escapes, confinement, hunger with dignity and honor..

Review
The Time is 1940's were south Africa is hit by civil war unending and undeclared, people are affected by it deeply and engrossingly but that is not the storyline of the novel..Its is about Michael K , his hare lip set him apart from the crowd..His lip shaped like a snail's foot hurdles his speech with disorientation and flimsy pronunciation..Born to Anna K who works as a servant in Cape town, he is raised in state institution, home for handicapped children...His communication with the world and its people shrinks as he grows up making him an isolated man..He is employed as a gardener by the municipality of Cape town at the town park.. It is during this time the civil war breaks down, Michael is unaffected by all of it...But his mother health deteriorates, she finds it difficult to get  relief in the over crowded hospital..She wants to go back to her hometown, a near-desert state of Karoo.... Together they set on the journey turned down at the check points not getting too far...He loses his mother ,leaving behind her ashes in a brown parcel.. He is unstoppable from this point, he is detained for not having sufficient papers for the journey , sent to prison and rehabilitation center thereafter..He is homeless, hunger struck goes through several days down with racism and confinement of prison..Yet his zeal to life with dignity and to take his mother's ash home burns high in his mind rendering him strength and the grit to pursue his journey..

Michael's story that begins in a simple note, branches up with several layers of complexities of life and people..He grows up very slowly that at times the reader miss to realize them..During the start of the journey, he builds up a cart out of scrap to push his ill mother through to her hometown, escapes the confinement of prison faking as a dead man..Learns the art of survival through evrey experience he goes on with....The novel is set into three different parts one from Michael's point of view then from the authors point of view, a third person account and back to Michael's point of view...I loved Michael's vantage more but  the third person account helped  me to define Michael better...The book is not about overcoming the physical obstacles one has to overcome but also finding strength to live with dignity in the face of prejudice and bigotry...The images and symbols of life and its adverse circumstances are brought up well by Coetzee..Its an absorbing tale  that is decently portrayed....The novel also discusses the reason for the war, minorities should have a asay in the governance a superficial reason from the vantage of democratic idealism...But the time were during the period when the place was ruled by the white minority over the black majority.....Not a light read, go for it if you have time for a thoughtful read...I am looking forward to read Coetzee's Disgrace...

Book 7 for TBR challenge

Book review:Circle of three by Rohit Gore

Title:Circle of three
Author: Rohit Gore
Publisher: Grapevine Publication
Price: Rs 100
Pages: 256
ISBN:9381841152
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Rating: 4 out of 5
Source: Publisher


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Summary
Its is a story of three people who have lost all hope in life.One day , their paths cross and their destinies are forever changed...

Review:
I loved the cover.The cover itself gives a glimpse of what lies ahead..Three different people thirteen year old Aryan Khosla, thirty three old Ria Marathe, sixty three year old Rana Rathod, live through the same feeling of disdain ,loss, neglect... Ria successful script writer is grief striken with her husband and her only son's untimely demise leaving her all alone, to add to the agony, she discovers that her husband had been cheating on her all along, to overcome it all suicide seem to be the only antidote , and she chooses D day as her birthday...Aryan born to an affluent couple surrounded by wealth but no love and care leaving him with low self esteem that he often wishes to be invisible, he has a mother with heavy drinking habit ,always seen with a glass of it rather spending time with her son..The house is a heavily packed arena for late night parties and social gathering, while Rana the third character was once a well known writer and author of couple of path breaking work but now he is long forgotten by his readers and his books are out of print...His rapport with children are for the worse , leaving him grumpy and unfriendly....Call it destiny or way of life their path is on a cross road where they share their despair and the hopes that has been shattered for ever, from there on their lives are changed for good forever...

It was the cover like I said that allured me into this book..I am really not comfortable with a plot where the strangers meet and things happen over their journey stuff because I have read enough of it and there is always a cliche of actions attached to it...But from the start the narration was gripping , and  I had no issues getting into the swing real fast...With the slow start as the plot changed to Aryan things started to pick on pace...The plot effortlessly moves through the three generation without any flaw...Gore paints brilliantly the neglect of the Aryan, heart ache of Ria and desperation of Rana Rathod comes across so beautifully...I thoroughly enjoyed the plot Aryan had to counter bully, Ria's mood wing, Rana's stationary phase of life all in single shot....That being said the changing panorama as the plot shifts through the three characters gives a vantage so different given in the same situation...The book is a good combo of hope, inspiration and surviving the odds..

Book 25 on SAC