Rafflesia: The Banished Princess
By Gautam
Review By Ila Garg
Rafflesia: The Banished Princess, a novel by Gautam, is published by Leadstart Publishing Private Limited. The cover shows a girl in black and white filter. Her eyes are focused all the more and grips the attention of the viewer at once. The fan covering her mouth further speaks of her strature and also of the mysterious nature of the female gender. It totally intrigued me to flip through the pages quickly and know the story of this ‘banished princess’.
A B-School graduate, Gautam is a business analyst by profession. Considers the laptop as among his best friends and nurses a secret desire to turn an entrepreneur someday. He blogs at www.gautamc.com and can be reached over email at authorgautam@yahoo.com
The blurb reads as, “The curtains draw up. Lights are dimmed. The musical is about to begin. As the beautiful princess descends on stage, the mythical creatures from her kingdom come alive. Flickers of brilliant colours blaze across as mesmerizing music pulsates from one corner of the theatre to the other. A fairy tale is about to unfold…
As young children, we often come across things that stay in our hearts forever. For Appu, it is a fairy tale about a beautiful princess. He lives with her in a world filled with the magical creatures from her kingdom until the real world beckons. A reluctant Appu steps into it as a striking young man and struggles to find his place.
What follows is an evocative tale of love and loss, friendship and betrayal, as the story travels through the snow-peaked mountains of Arunachal to the golden deserts of Jaisalmer, the tulip gardens of
Holland to the lush greens of Kerala. Does Appu find what he had set out for? The answer lies in Rafflesia — The Banished Princess because in her story, lay his!”
Rafflesia: The Banished Princess is a story about a guy named Apoorva Sharma, fondly known as Appu among his friends. The book is his journey from a small town of Guwahati, Assam to Leeuwarden, Netherlands. The book is divided in 2 sections – Book 1 and Book 2.
An unhappy marriage leads to major turmoils in Appu’s life. He struggles to find the reasons behind the broken ties with his wife. Eventually, as he goes on exploring the details of his life and marriage, he understands, accepts and moves on with the flow of his life. He realises that he needs a fresh start in his life and not let his wife’s disapproval affect the course of his life. It’s good to see that the story has a positive and realsitic climax.
Gautam hasn’t offered anything extraordinary but still Rafflesia has a freshness of its own. It manages to have a different perspective. It doesn’t magically reunite the married couple but it moves in reality and thus lets the protagonist, Apoorva have a fresh start of his life instead of being stuck in a tumultous marriage.
The descriptions in the book are quite realistic and therefore the readers will feel very much connected to the events. The language is simple and easy to comprehend. Gautam’s writing style is captivating. He has a way with words. Nowhere will a reader feel any disconnect. It’s so well-written that once you pick up, you cannot keep it down without finishing it off. Though, due to time crunch I could read only 50 pages a day but I found it quite engaging. The subject is tackled beautifully by the debutant author. Yeah the fact that such an amazing is written by a debutant author did surprise me but then one should never underestimate the potential out there.
Who is Apoorva, who is his wife, what were the problems they were facing as a couple, what resulted in an unhappy marriage, will Apoorva find the reasons or just settle down with the destiny of the failed marriage, how his childhood affected his present life, how the author blends in elements of love, sentiments, betrayal are some of the many reasons why you will keep turning the pages to find out what happens in Rafflesia: The Banished Princess.
Further, this 397-page book is a compelling book that wouldn’t let you be bored. Kudos to Gautam for an excellent debut.
Ratings: 4/5
Buying Link: Amazon
This (Unbiased) book review is a part of "The Readers Cosmos Book Review Program". To get free books log on to thereaderscosmos.blogspot.com. Thanks Nimi Vashi for giving me the opportunity to read such a nice book!
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