Blinkers off by Andaleeb Wajid

Genre : Indian YA Fiction.
Publisher : Rupa
My rating : 3/5
Copy source : Uncle OT on behalf of author ( I suppose)


Synopsis from Goodreads

Is it going to be like Hum Aapke Hain Kaun?

Noor has no idea that this frustrating question will turn around the course of her documentary film in more ways than she can imagine. At present she is more concerned about Supriya, the college diva who will make sure that she walks away with the credit while Noor does all the hard work. Moreover, when Supriya’s gorgeous boyfriend Dennis mysteriously makes an appearance in her film-making class, Noor has to deal with her burgeoning feelings for him. The documentary is being shot at a wedding where Noor discovers the secret of the bride’s unhappiness. Should she help her out and face the wrath of the bride’s parents later? Should she involve Dennis as the bride is his friend’s sister? But as things come to a head at the wedding, Noor realises that there’s no easy solution in sight, especially when the blinkers begin to come off.(less)

My thoughts 

What a sweet little story! Blinkers's off is possibly the first Indian contemporary popular fiction I have read which has a Muslim protagonist- which was extremely appealing to me. I am not going into the plot as the synopsis does a good job of it and  if I am going to outline the plot , it will pretty much be repetitive. What I am going to talk about is the freshness of the book. I read it in a couple of days , and that is saying a lot considering the fact that I normally take a few weeks to finish any book. 

Blinkers off is fast , breezy fun book that will remind one of their college days .It is essentially a love story (a love triangle at that ). There were other reasons why I wanted to read this book.I was intrigued about how a Muslim protagonist would think. No different from anyone else , but still I wanted to read the book mainly for that. Secondly , the part about the protagonist filming a movie at a wedding also  got me all curious about how the subject would be tackled. 

Story-wise , it was pretty straight forward with all the expected misunderstandings that are the staple of any book that deals with Young adult love. No flowery language or complicated writing , just simple story telling.This , I  feel is the biggest strength of the book. Noor is an  extremely likable character, despite all her hang-ups and  insecurities , while Dennis is the quintessential Alpha male archetype that any girl would swoon over. From the supporting cast , I liked Nandita's charecterisation the best  and could somehow not tolerate Noor's mother. I found her extremely harsh and critical . Oh, I also loved Roshan ( Noor's know-it-all kiddo brother). Supriya, the supreme snob does her job well and makes us hate her from the word go. 

Overall, a sweet little book that is breezy and fun. This book was like a bowl of khichidi and ghee for me - comforting and soothing, with no major twists or complicated writing. Next time when I am looking for a breezy fun book , I know I'll consider Andaleeb's other books ( She is really prolific and has had a book coming out every year).

Thanks Uncle OT for introducing me to this author's book. 

The Truth Of All Things by Kieran Shields

Genre : Historical Crime fiction
My rating : 4/5
Publisher : Crown Publishers (Random House)
Copy source : Publisher

SYNOPSIS FROM Goodreads

Two hundred years after the Salem witch trials, in the summer of 1892, a grisly new witch hunt is beginning....

When newly appointed Deputy Marshal Archie Lean is called in to investigate a prostitute's murder in Portland, Maine, he's surprised to find the body laid out like a pentagram and pinned to the earth with a pitchfork.  He's even more surprised to learn that this death by "sticking" is a traditional method of killing a witch. 

     Baffled by the ritualized murder scene, Lean secretly enlists the help of historian Helen Prescott and brilliant criminalist Perceval Grey.  Distrusted by officials because of his mixed Abenaki Indian ancestry, Grey is even more notorious for combining modern investigative techniques with an almost eerie perceptiveness.  Although skeptical of each other's methods, together the detectives pursue the killer's trail through postmortems and opium dens, into the spiritualist societies and lunatic asylums of gothic New England.

     Before the killer closes in on his final victim, Lean and Grey must decipher the secret pattern to these murders--a pattern hidden within the dark history of the Salem witch trials.

My Thoughts

I have always have a morbid fascination for the Salem witch trials . Actually ,make that all things esoteric or things that logical reasoning has no answers for. Which is why I wanted to read this book.  The idea of this book is brilliant ,and so is  the execution. I have immense respect for any writer attempting historical fiction and can only imagine the amount of research that would have gone into creating an authentic feel .

 Though this is Kieran's first book , it doesn't feel like a work by a debutant author. I loved the charecterisation of  both Preceval Grey and Archie Lean , and feel that this is a hit combo that needs to be watched out for. Grey's reserve and single mindedness is the perfect foil for Lean's earnestness. Both are immensely likable in their own ways and will remind you of Holmes and Dr Watson in more ways than one.Their verbal sparring (in jest , of course) and banter makes the book rather enjoyable.  I also liked other characters who help the duo race against time (Helen and Dr Steig) and look forward to reading Kieran's next book. 

 Story line-wise , I thought that the first hundred off pages were a little dragging , but once the murders start happening frequently , the pace picks up. The ending , though not very unexpected is handled very efficiently and will keep you on the tenterhooks. The author has brilliantly captured Portland in 1892 .  

  Overall , a nice read brimming with a wealth of information on the Salem Witch Trials  and a investigating duo that is fun.   

THanks to Crown publishing for sending me this copy yo review. All ideas and opinions in this review are mine and only mine. 

From the eye of my mind by TGC Prasad

Book : From the Eye of my mind
Author : TGC Prasad
Genre : Fiction
Publisher : Random House (Ebury)
Copy source : www.mysmartprice.com
My rating : 4/5

Blurb from the back cover of the book

I am eighteen years old and five feet six inches tall. I have  big eyes,long fingers ,and I am healthy because I eat my food on time.I also have a mole on my left palm. Grandma says," Mole on the palm is bad luck.' Eric Hoffer, an American writer, said ,'A great man's greatest good luck is to die at the right time.'I wondered what a right time to die was? I feel I have an eye in my mind and I close it when I am with strangers. 

Mallika is autistic and lives in a strangely whimsical yet ordered world of her own.When her mother breaks the news to her that her beloved brother Ananth is going to be married. Mallika's fragile world collapses. How will she deal with a stranger in her life and home? Told in an inimitable style, From the eye of my mind  is a charming tale of acceptance,love and a beautiful mind.

My thoughts 

I have an autistic cousin whose brother is getting married in a few months. So, when I got to know about this book ,I didn't think twice before wanting to read it. I hadn't read any reviews about the book then.Now that I have finished reading the book, I am happy that I picked it up. From the Eye of my mind is a charming , sensitive book. The story line is fairly simple and told from the POV of an 18-year old autistic child. She loves humming beetles songs ,  downloads and reads anything she can lay her hands on and is a mini encyclopedia of sorts. Her world is shattered when her big brother decides to get married . Mallika doesn't know how to deal with the new 'stranger' in her life. The rest of the story is about Mallika's journey towards acceptance. 

I don't know much about autistic children , except that certain faculties are extremely well-developed , while certain others(particularly social interactions)  are lacking . TGC Prasad wonderfully captures Mallika's thought process well and has let his simple story-telling style shine. One can't by start loving Mallika and her  motley  family. I quite liked Mallika's dad's charecter - a hen-pecked mild-mannered LIC officer who sells LIC policies to all and sundry.Other characters are also extremely believable. I also loved the way Mallika spouts trivia  at the most inopportune moments.. The book is totally adorable, I have to say.

The story is not just about Mallika's acceptance of the her sister-in-law , but also about the family coming to terms with a new addition to their family. Mallika's mother's attitude grated on my nerves , but I am willing to concede that a lot of Indian women with sons of marriageable age think that way, and that it is very representative of the thinking of the Indian middle class. I would have given a 5 , but decided against it because I didn't like the way the ending was handled.It was a little rushed and dramatic for my comfort. Maybe I am too much of a feminist to accept  the brother wanting  his new bride to quit work to help his mother cook and take care of his sister. Which is why the book gets a 4 from me. 

Overall , a lovely book that is breezy and poignant at the

same time. One would be reminded of Mark Haddon's The curious incident of a dog in night's time. But this book is very Indian in the context and brims with extremely believable characters  not to mention being narrated from the POV of an extremely adorable and intelligent child.   

My rating : 4/5 

Thanks to Mysmartprice.com for sponsoring this book for me. Do drop by their website to check out the best deals on books.

S.E.C.R.E.T by L.Marie Adeline

BOOK name : S.E.C.R.E.T 

Author : L.Marie Adeline 

Genre : Erotica 

Publisher : Broadway books (Random House)

My rating : 3/5 

Source : Publisher 

Synopsis from Goodreads 

Cassie Robichaud’s life is filled with regret and loneliness after the sudden death of her husband. She waits tables at the rundown Café Rose in New Orleans, and every night she heads home to her solitary one-bedroom apartment. But when she discovers a notebook left behind by a mysterious woman at the café, Cassie’s world is forever changed. The notebook’s stunningly explicit confessions shock and fascinate Cassie, and eventually lead her to S∙E∙C∙R∙E∙T, an underground society dedicated to helping women realize their wildest, most intimate sexual fantasies. Cassie soon immerses herself in an electrifying journey through a series of ten rapturous fantasies with gorgeous men who awaken and satisfy her like never before. As she is set free from her inhibitions, she discovers a new confidence that transforms her, giving her the courage to live passionately. Equal parts enticing, liberating and emotionally powerful, S∙E∙C∙R∙E∙T is a world where fantasy becomes reality.(less)

What I thought about the book 

This is not a genre I normally read , which is probably why I didn't like the book too much .But that's really not the book's fault.I can totally see erotica fans lapping this book up.The ending was unexpected (possibly the only unexpected thing in the entire book). Maybe the book deserves a 3.5, but I really didn't emphathise with Cassie(the protagonist) at any point , and often found her a tad whiney. Considering the fact that life or circumstances have not been very kind to her, such low self-esteem is understandable. I found myself skipping though the fantasies impatiently as I found them rather boring and repetitive.The premise of a mousy under- confident woman seeking sexual emancipation (leading to increase in her confidence levels) is rather interesting, but I suspect that the book didn't do justice to the premise.I once read an Irving Wallace based on this premise and remember quite liking it. That was more than a decade back and I have no clue If I'd like it if i read it now. I am just wondering now whether I'd like  50 shades of grey. 

Overall , an ok book. If you love erotica you might want to pick this book up. If like me , you want to just find out what this genre is all about, I suggest you give this book a miss. 

Thanks to Random house for sending me this book.  

Review of Faraway Music by Sreemoyee Piu Kundu

Book name : Faraway Music
Author : SreeMoyee Piyu Kundu
Genre : Fiction
Publisher : Hatchette
Copy : Review Copy from Mysmartprice.com
Rating: 4/5
To cut a long story short: Poignant, powerful  and lyrical

Synopsis (from Good reads)
 On a long-haul international flight writer Piya Choudhury tells the one story she hasn't yet told - her own...

Loved and indulged by her mother and grandparents, but haunted by the mysterious absence of her father, Piya grows up in Kolkata, a gifted and impetuous child who pursues her studies with the same passion as she does her first few adolescent crushes, until a savage encounter leaves her repulsed. She moves to Mumbai hoping to become a journalist and falls deeply in love with her editor, Abir, but when a controversial story she is working on is stymied, she is forced to choose between the man she loves and her own integrity. Years later, she is settled in New York, married to a renowned artist who helps her find herself creatively. A liberated, successful, and dynamic writer, Piya has everything she's ever wanted, until she is revisited by her past...

Sensuous, profound, lyrical and moving, Faraway Musicis a story of family, friendship, fame, love and loss - and all that lies in between...

My thoughts

It wasn't love at first sight for me with this book.I almost labored for 40-50 pages till i could start appreciating the awesomeness of the book. I am so glad i didn't put it away! The protagonist,Pia Choudhry is an acclaimed writer.She narrates her story to a journalist on a long flight journey. The narrative flits between the past and the present as Pia reminisces about her crushes, friendships, flames and lost loves right from her childhood. I started enjoying the book when Pia moves to Mumbai to intern with a newspaper. It was intriguing to read about the life of an intern in the big, bad world of journalism. From being asked to bring chai to being relegated to running errands, Pia unexpectedly lucks out and becomes a name to reckon with. She also makes friends and learns a lot about life. A job shift later , she ends up in one of the biggest newspapers in India and  falls in love with her editor. But things go awry leaving Pia emotionally wrecked. Will she find true love and come to terms with the various demons inside her? You'll have to read the book to find that out!    

  Sreemoyee's writing is drenched with passion and is one of the most poignant proses I've read in a while. Most characters are extremely well-etched, and Sreemoyee has done a great job in maintaining a melancholic tone. The book aptly captures the dynamics of contemporary relationships, and I am sure a lot of people will relate to Pia's efforts to find love and more importantly stay in love. I am assuming Sreemoyee has drawn heavily from her her own life as a journalist and later as a PR head. All i can say is "What a beautiful debut !" Looking forward to reading more from her. 

Overall a wonderful book I'll recommend to people who enjoy good  Indian fiction. 

My rating -4/5 

 Disclaimer: The book was provided for review by Mysmartprice.com .All opinions expressed in this review are my own.  

Review of BBC knowledge magazine

This is the first time I am reviewing a magazine on this blog and am happy that I got to review something I enjoyed reading immensely. I normally watch a lot of programs that pertain to science , technology, history and nature on television. Not surprisingly, I finished reading two copies of the magazine in a couple of days and wanted to go pick up the old issues. A bit about the magazine before i tell you what I liked reading.. 

 

BBC Knowledge was launched in 2008 in the US and went on to become one of the most successful launches of the year. Subsequently, the magazine was launched in 2010 in India and is from the stable of Worldwide publishers,the publishers of Femina , Filmfare and many more magazines. The magazine is a bi-monthly and contains content that is international,but hand-picked for the Indian audience. Aptly titled  "For the curious mind", BBC knowledge covers a wide range of topics from Science, History and nature. 

I loved reading the magazines that I had been sent for reviewing and loved how each issue covered a plethora of issues and topics. Let me  give you a rough idea of what one of the issues had on offer (Jan-Feb 2011 issue). The issue contained an interesting article about Espionage in 21st century ; a lovely feature on the Sumatran Rhinos that sing ; an in-depth write-up about the building blocks of "Genius "among a host of other invigorating reads. The other issue that I was sent had a special report on analysis of whether God exists-a truly awesome read !.

I also loved flipping through glossy science/history/nature related pics in the magazine.Another section I absolutely loved reading was the Q and A section where queries of readers are answered by a team of  experts. The articles are lucid, interesting and written by highly qualified writers, journalists and academics. And just like their tag-line promises, this magazine is a treasure trove for curious minds. Priced at 100 bucks per issue, BBC Knowledge might seem a little expensive for a young reader, but quite honestly I don't think there are too many knowledge-oriented magazines that has the quality (both in content  of articles and in visuals accompanying the articles) that this one has.

It would be nice to read more India-centric articles and content from India being published in the magazine.I am sure this will soon follow as the subscriber base in India grows. 

You can find more information on the magazine,do visit www.bbcknowledgeindia.com

My recommendation: Go grab it from your nearest newsstand to lose yourself in pursuit of knowledge.

Disclosure: Two copies of the magazines were supplied for review.All opinions expressed here are mine and mine alone.

Review: We can Pull it off by Suresh Taneja

Rampant corruption in India is most often a topic a lot of us rant and rave about. But, we stop at ranting and don’t really do anything about it. Suresh Taneja’s debut book ,”We can pull it off”published by Leadstart Publishing was apparently written to sensitize people towards dubious means of earning money and the systemic corruption that plagues our society.It was envisioned as an aid towards reducing the problem.

The book starts in the year 2030 when a bunch of friends take a 6 hour flight from Delhi to Washington DC. Manisha, Akshay and Yuvika are on that flight along with their families to visit another member of their gang,Vikram,who is currently the Indian ambassador to the US. The friends call themselves G4-Gang of four.India is now the most powerful country in the world and is in a position to grant a relief package to a nation that was once a superpower.The parents of G4 were childhood friends and the families made sure that they met once every year as a tradition. During the 2030 meet,the children pester their parents to tell them all about how India became so powerful and formidable and the G4 oblige.

A string of incidents that highlight the rampant corruption in the society affect G4 and their parents personally on their yearly holiday in the year 2009. This makes the G4(all teenagers then) take notice of the detrimental effects on the society at large and makes them start a revolution of sorts against the rot in the society. They start off with organizing camps in schools,colleges and the Income tax department.What starts off as a small vacation activity gains huge momentum when they are aided by a news anchor,Varsha Dutt. Soon, several school and college children pledge their support .The revolution demands that the children question the illegal ways of money-making their parents adopt and encourage children to shun the ill-begotten money. The rest of the story is about how the G4 succeed in making India one of the most developed countries of the world.

Suresh talks about incidents like the Satyam fiasco and the one that took place in July 2008 in the parliament house,when MPs flashed wads of notes and accused other parties of bribery.Obviously,the passion that Suresh feels for the subject- the need for a morally-correct society free from corruption comes across clearly from the pages of the book. The ideas put forth in the book are relevant and would no doubt make an impact on young, impressionable minds, but the execution could have been better. There is a little humour,in the form of a prank-playing Yuvika and the antics of the gang and that provides the necessary relief from time to time.The tone is sometimes preachy,but then it might be written with an intention to inspire young children. The book is fast paced and is written in simple words.It could have benefited with some more editing to cull out grammatical and spelling mistakes.

Overall an okay book written with passion and the hope for a corruption-free India, which is a noble thought.I would rate it 3/5 for making the reader not just think about socially relevant issues that are normally swept under the carpet,but also for giving some solutions and ideas to the way forward. 2/5 for execution.Overall rating - 2.5/5.

A bit about the author: Suresh Taneja is a chartered accountant by profession and is employed as a CFO in a large listed company. This is his first book.

The book is available online and also in book stores.

This is an author requested review.

The very thought of You - Rosie Alison

“Of all the people we meet in a lifetime, it is strange that so many of us find ourselves in thrall to one particular person.Once that face is seen ,an involuntary heartache sets in for which there is no cure.All the wonder of this world finds shape in that one person and thereafter there is no reprieve ,because this kind of love does not end,or not until death.

For the lucky ones,this love is reciprocated. But for so many others everywhere,anywhere,there follows an unending ache of longing without relief.Incurable love is a great leveler.Yet I believe that this bittersweet love is better by far than the despair which blights those with a dead heart.”

If you loved reading these lines, you’ll love Rosie Alison’s book,The very thought of you. I picked up this book from the library when I spotted a list of accolades and awards the books has been considered for. It’s been shortlisted for Amazon Rising Star award 2009, Long listed for RNA Romantic novel of the year 2010 and Le prince Maurice prize and for Literary short stories 2010.When I spot a book has been nominated for a bunch of literary awards,I involuntarily wonder if I should be reading it, because a lot of such winning books seem to be filled with sad,lonely protagonists.Actually, Rosie’s book is no exception to this rule.But I must confess that it is an immensely readable book.

It is 1939 and the world is in the brink of a war. Thousands of children are evacuated from London to protect them from the bombings that everyone anticipates, with Hitler gaining momentum. Anna sands is an eight year old girl, who is displaced and is sent off to a school for evacuees in a large Yorkshire estate called Ashton Park along with 80 other children.There she meets Mr Ashton, the owner of the estate,a cripple who teaches them Latin ; Elizabeth Ashton, a beautiful ice queen; Ruth Weir ,the plain-Jane teacher who has a lovely way with children among many other minor characters. Ashton park,a rambling house with gardens and sculptures and secret nooks acts as a brilliant tapestry for the undercurrents that run in the household. Anna is a quiet, introspective child,who prefers keeping her own company rather than playing with the other children.

The Ashtons are a childless couple and both pine for a child of their own. Their marriage is on the rocks with both of them having receded into their private shells. They really need a baby to revive the marriage.Elizabeth gets anxious and lives a bohemian double life which nobody knows about. It is her way of escaping her soul- less, passionless existence. Then there is Roberta, Anna’s mother who lives alone in London .With Anne away at Ashton park and her husband away in Egypt in the army, Roberta feels the need for male company and starts seeing a man. Meanwhile at Ashton park, romance is on the cards for Elizabeth as a new guest enters the household.

Suddenly, Anna becomes a witness to things a girl her age shouldn’t witness and in a strange way gets drawn to Thomas and her teacher, Ruth. Will Elizabeth fall in love again? Will she leave Thomas? Will Anna go back to her mother? Will Thomas find love of his own ? Well, for answers to these questions,you need to read the book.

What could have been a wonderful, flowing narrative from the word go, sags because of a lot of flashbacks The book is an essay in melancholy and flows slowly letting us delve more into every character. The 3^rd person POV doesn’t work for this book and after a point gets choppy and repetitive as you have all the main characters talking about their loneliness and inadequacies.

The language is beautiful and serenades you, making you fall in love with it. With the war on, the need for comfort in another human being is so heightened that morality and the question of being right or wrong becomes secondary to the guiding emotion itself.The book makes you realize this at every juncture.That a wife is not just a wife, but a woman with hot-blooded passion.A cripple is not just a cripple,but a wounded man who is grappling with questions about his self-worth.

Overall, a lilting book that left its haunting mark on me, despite some minor complaints.

3.5/5 for this lovely, brooding tale.

The Tapestry of Love by Rosy thornton

To me a book is a window into possibilities, people and customs that exist elsewhere –something that I would never have had an opportunity to knowing otherwise. So, when Rosy Thornton mailed me about reviewing her book, The Tapestry of Love, I was thrilled. I had never read a book based in the French countryside before.I fell in love with the book right from the minute I opened the package and set my eyes on the cover of the book: An old door painted white with splotches of greenery around it.

The book starts languorously with Rosy describing the Transhumance, a bi-yearly ritual common to the mountain regions of France where sheep are herded up and down the slopes of the mountains depending on the time of the year.During the autumn transhumance sheep are herded from the grasslands in the mountains down the slopes to the valleys and during the spring transhumance the process is reversed. Catherine is a divorcee who moves to a hamlet in the Ce'vennes Mountains from London.She is an empty Nester with her children, Lexie and Tom grown up and busy with their own lives . She decides to start her own business as a seamstress in the idyllic rural environment.

At the Ce'vennes, Catherine has to contend with loneliness, stiff neighbors and horrible weather. We are introduced to the Bouschets, Madame Volipere, the Merriels and Patrick Castagnol. Her neighbors are gracious and invite Catherine over for tea and meals , but their requests are formal. Catherine strikes up an easy friendship with Patrick as their conversations cover subjects as varied as bee-keeping, boars ,lepers and saints. As paragraph upon paragraph rolled by describing Catherine’s life, I could feel her loneliness myself. But the narrative is not depressing at any point.I loved Catherine’s character-strong and warm.Despite her divorce, she is not bitter about her husband seeing another woman .

Catherine embraces her new life selling her cushion covers and upholstering furniture to the locals . Everything rolls by smoothly until her sister, Bryonne decides to visit her. Now, Bryonne is everything Catherine is not- perky and leads an extremely successful life as a partner in a London law firm.During Bryonne’s visit Catherine realizes that both of them are falling for the same man. But the man has secrets that he holds close to his heart himself. The rest of the story is about how Catherine befriends the neighbors, becomes an integral part of the neighborhood, how she strives to get her enterprise registered and makes sense of the feelings she has towards Patrick.

The strong points of the book are the depth with which each character is etched out,Rosy’s lovely words and the information on life in the mountains. I particularly loved Lexie,the journalist daughter who tires of her writing jobs in a jiffy and constantly seeks something else to excite her. Somehow, the neighbors didn’t make much of an impression on me and I wonder if it was done on purpose.Rosy’s love for good food and the mountainside shows through the pages of the book.

My only issue with the book was the length-400 odd pages.Somewhere in the middle the narrative sags a bit . I would have also wanted to learn more about the finer points of making tapestries.But things soon heat up and to know more you need to grab the book and read it :-).

Let me leave you with one of the passages I particularly loved

“Catherine inhaled.It was the smell of the valley always had in snatches, the acidity of woodsmoke and behind it everywhere the darker, mellower scent of what had been there before the settlement of man.Earth and water and rock , and spent leaves returning to the earth.”

Overall, a simple love story set in a beautiful pastoral background. I’ll give it a 3.5 /5. I would recommend it to anyone who loves a good love story and am looking forward to reading more of her work.

Thanks Rosy for sending me this book to review.

A bit about the author: Rosy Thornton teaches at Cambridge University and lives with her daughters and partner in a village near the University. She also has three more books – More than Love Letters, Hearts and Minds and Crossed Wires to her credit.

For more info hop over to Rosy's website here.You'll be pleasantly surprised to see a lot of traditional Ce'vennes recipes there.

War on the Margins by Libby Cone

When Libby Cone mailed me about reviewing her book War on the Margins and told me that it was a prequel of sorts to the Guernsey Literary and Potato peel society, I wanted to get my hands on the book.Her mail also told me that I would like the book if I had liked the Guernsey book. I expected a saccharine sweet account of the war and was pleasantly surprised with the way Libby has tackled the subject.

France has fallen to the Nazis.Britain is under siege.As BBC bulletins grow bleak,residents of Jersey expect invasion and begin to abandon their homes.When the Germans take over,they bring Nazi racial doctrine with them and the handful of Jews left on the island are forced to relinquish their livelihoods. Marlene Zimmer, a shy clerk at the aliens office, tries to conceal her Jewish ancestry but is forced to flee, and transforms herself into a resistance member under the protection of female artists and lovers, Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore.

The book spans five years (1940-45) and chronicles the lives of a bunch of residents of Jersey during the Nazi upsurgence. The narrative is interspersed with original letters, ordinances and notices that were circulated during the period. Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore were surrealist artists and propagandists who lived in Jersey during this time period and put up a resistance against the Nazis in their own subversive way by writing anonymous letters. The book talks of the wonderful relationship between the two artists and their efforts at undermining the Germans. Libby has drawn on the experiences of several Britons and her research that she did for her MA in Jewish studies to write this book.

Narrated from several viewpoints, the book is a gritty tale of the difficulties that normal civilians and Jews faced during the war.I don’t think I will ever take a piece of soap or a bar of chocolate for granted ever again ,now that I’ve read of how these were a luxury during the days of the war and that average civilian meals consisted of scraps of potato bread and pieces of wrinkled swedes. The narrative did seem a little choppy at times with the narrative switching between viewpoints of Marlene;the surrealist Artists; Peter,a prisoner and Mrs Erica Richardson, another inhabitant of the island.However,I must confess that I liked the book immensely.

I found the parts where Peter and his comrades are tortured by the Nazis and description of the sub-human conditions under which they lived heart-wrenching. It just made me wonder about the amount of hatred Hitler had stored up inside him to inflict such horror on fellow humans.I am not sure if any character stood out enough for me to like him/her more than the other,but all of them served their purpose of furthering the story. The book is cleverly written and is full of examples of bravery shown by normal people.When,at the end of the book the war ended and people could walk out in broad daylight and buy a loaf of bread ,I almost cheered.As you read about the BBC radios spewing music to kindle hope in people or about the planes roaring overhead,you’ll be transported back in time to a world that not only brimmed with hatred(thanks to the Nazis) ,but also with hope and bravery.The letters that the surrealists wrote to each other while in prison appear here for the first time.Love the cover!

Thanks to Libby for sending me this book to review.Looking forward to your next book now.

Overall, I liked the book, despite the choppiness. Libby Cone’s book is an intimate account of the war that lovers of historical fiction will enjoy.I am not very sure if people who liked Potato peel book will like this as War on the Margins is most definitely more real with real people.3.5/5 from me for the book.

A bit about the author and the book : Libby cone eared her MA in Jewish studies in 2006 and lives in Philadelphia. This book was initially self-published and found a publisher (Duckworth) after being championed by UK bloggers (YAY!!). The book has been nominated for People’s book Prize for 2010 .The US paperback as well as a kindle version has been released recently. You can find more information on the book here

The book is available on Amazon.Click here to access the Amazon page. They also have a Kindle version. The imported edition is available on Flipkart.