"The Sialkot Saga" by Ashwin Sanghi

"The Sialkot Saga"

by Ashwin Sanghi

Overall Review:  3.5 

Grip Factor:         4

Writing Style:      4

Engaging Plot:     4

Characters:           3

Satisfying End:    3

Goodreads Review at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3712754712 

 

We can call this book as falling in historical fiction or politics genre both.  It has covered entire spectrum of Indian history from just after independence till the year 2000.  It has also covered old Indian history running thousands of year old relating to Ashoka's 9 men and also covered secret organizations ensuring ancient history carries on.  

Two stories running in parallel

Two stories run in parallel here - one which is few thousand years old and one which runs from 1947 till 2001.  They both do sit well however, personally I feel there was no need to put the older story in the midst to make the modern main story good.  They have been written in a manner which relates them but that did not seem necessary.  The modern story seem more like a hindi movie where two kids separate from their mother at the time of partition and end up becoming rivals. 

All events in story are linked to historical facts of the nation

I liked the linking of the story to the historical facts and I also liked the part where they were explained and described more.  People tend to forget even the most recent events and soon things as far back as 5 years old just become some historical fact to be ignored and moved on from.  Reading about the death of S. P. Mukherjee, emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi, forceful works of Sanjay Gandhi, 1984 Massacre by Congress, Gujarat riots, election and non election of Vajpayee ji, 9/11 attack, Mumbai attack... all certainly give you goose bumps.  There are all the events you have lived through and it feels surreal to read them all together in a book.  The linking of the love/hate story around all these events is flawless in the book.  At many points it is difficult to put the book down since I have wanted to know more and more about these events.  

Main story is a love/hate story

Two kids who are separated from their mother at the time of partition end up becoming business rivals.  Their kids end up falling in love and getting married.  At the end it is identified that they were from the same village in Pakistan and got separated when they were forced to move to India at the time of partition.  The ex of one end up marrying the other in an all so obvious twist.  Not to forget that these kids were saviors of some long forgotten sect tasked with protecting a long lost secret from Ancient times.  I can only call it a love/hate story but certainly feels it comes straight out of a movie.  

"The Rabbit Girls" by Anna Ellory

 The Rabbit Girls

by Anna Ellory

Overall Review:  4

Grip Factor           : 4

Writing Style        : 4

Engaging Plot       : 4

Characters            : 4

Satisfying End      : 4 

Goodreads Review:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3014393961

When you pick the book, you don't have the faintest idea where would this term be used "The Rabbit Girls".  This is such a harmless reference to such a cute animal and the usage is entirely different.  World war II and Hitler have so many stories hidden; it will take a lifetime to know all.  The book is set during the time when the wall between east and west Germany is taken down and a young daughter is taking care of her father.  She uncovers an old war mystery for her father and while doing that identifies a fact about her own life.  During this process she finds out about some girls who were chosen for experimentation at camps, their struggles and their lives.  She also surprisingly finds out new things about her relationship with her parents.  

More of a love story rather than WWII

The book is more of a love story and less of a story related to WWII.  There are certainly places where the book describes what is happening at the camps to the character but majorly focuses on love.  One might think that this book is written with a view to giving voice to the Rabbit girls.  However, that is not the case and instead a major portion of the book is more  of a love story and has no historical reference.   

Hidden letters uncover a bitter truth

The thought that I can find old crumpled, folded, rolled letters inside the seam of a dress gives me goose bumps.  A series of letters found in her mother's old dress forces her to look at the history of her country, her mother and her father.  Living in modern day Germany when Miriam finds these letters she had no idea her parents could have suffered at the hands of the Nazis.  Her initial thought coming from the assumption that only Jews suffered in those times.  However, this book brings out a separate group of people who were political prisoners, people who were not Jews but were punished simply because they did not support Hitler or his policies.  

One area which I hope this book could have improved upon was certainly touching the topic and the story of the Rabbit girls a little more.  The book is named after them but does not deal with them for even half of the narration.  

Certain scenes which don't leave my mind after putting this book down are - Finding crumpled letters hidden in the dress, Facing domestic abuse even in times of father's illness and lastly finding a friend for support in the times when she was at her lowest possible.