AN ATLAS OF IMPOSSIBLE LONGING by Anuradha Roy (R194,95 Maclehose Press)
Rating: 4/5
Reviewer: Jane Vorster
As the beautiful title suggests this is an epic tale of thwarted desire spanning three generations. It starts in the 1920s with Amulya, the patriarch of an Indian family who builds a sprawling house in the remote village of Songarh, hoping for a quiet life. But his dream is shattered when his wife becomes mentally ill and has to be confined to an attic room. Happiness also eludes his son, Nirmal, a gentle dreamer who’s inconsolable after his great love dies.
But most tragic is Mukunda, an orphan adopted into the household but cast out when he falls in love with Nirmal’s daughter. For years Mukunda struggles to find a place he belongs until events conspire to take him back to Songarh.
This debut novel is cleverly crafted and full of poignant twists. A gem you won’t forget in a hurry.
HOLDING THE DREAM by Nora Roberts (R100 Piatkus)
Rating: 3/5
Reviewer: Kim van Reizig
Roberts dishes out more life lessons in this novel, the second in her dream trilogy. Ambitious accountant Kate Powell has her future mapped out: to become a partner in her firm, spend quality time with her sisters and avoid falling in love at all costs.
Her perfectly ordered existence is plunged into disarray when she discovers her father was a thief and, even worse, just a few days later she too is accused of stealing money from the company. A true prince charming miraculously arrives to help her but of course independent Kate doesn’t appreciate having a man interfering in her life.
The characters are deliciously vivid and the story is so much more than a simple romance - it gets to the heart of family matters and shows it’s not always such a bad thing when life disrupts one’s carefully laid plans.
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