The Curse of Damini

Author: Debajani Mohanty

Published By: Partridge Publishers

Pages: 180

Price: Rs. 399

ISBN: 978-14-828-5107-6

About The Author:

Winner of "Best Debutante Author of The Year" award by literature festival Sarjanaa, Debajani Mohanty is an engineering graduate and senior I.T. professional with a career of nearly one and half decades. Her interests include music, history, world cuisines and women education & empowerment. The nature of her work as well as passion for different cultures has made her travel half of the living world.

                                                      

“The Curse of Damini” her debut novel though crafted as a thriller is actually a historical fiction that covers seven decades of India's past and portrays many age-old vices against women. She started writing this 3 years back after the barbaric Nirbhaya episode of Delhi and her work is a small effort towards ending the violence and discrimination against women in society.

Book Blurb:

The world seemed not enough for free spirited Renuka, when she married the highly educated Shashank hailing from the mightiest Zamindars of Bengal. However, soon her life turned upside down when a neighbor revealed her of their sinister past.

It's a mysterious supernatural curse cast on their family almost a century back. Generation by generation, Damini's enraged curse had passed on, declining their family clan from hundreds to a handful few. Who would be Damini's next victim? And why innocent lives are at a stake for a crime committed by an ancestor a hundred years back? Renuka would not settle until she finds an answer and in her quest she struggles to eradicate all the evils that come in her way. Would she ever win a battle against an unseen enemy? Would the wrong done to Damini be ever avenged?

Set against the nostalgic era of 1940s, the story narrates the arduous journey of Renuka Pal, the protagonist, from a rash teen age freedom fighter to the seasoned writer of the 21st century India. In this thrilling saga of death, betrayal and power plays the narrative would cover a large chunk of twentieth century history. The passing of time, historical events and the changing country is so well-woven to the story that one would hardly differentiate between fact and fiction."

My Review:

“Sobaimorbe. Ami Sobai ke khete eschi. Amake Rokto chai” (You all will die. I have come to eat you all. All I need is blood). The book begins with these lines. And this is enough to give you goose bumps. I started this book in the wee hours of night and after reading these lines, I thought for a second, should I continue reading it or should I keep it for some other day. I chose the former. Few pages later, everything was normal. The story was everything but spooky.

The story revolves around Renuka, the main protagonist of the story. The Authoress has brilliantly created the character, narrating every details of her life, from the beginning to the very end. While I was reading the book, I very much fell in love with Renuka. Not just the female protagonist, but also the leading male character, Shashank is a guy on whom every girl can cash on. Full credits to the Authoress for building the characters so well, that everything felt quite real.

I’m completely impressed with the storyline of the book. This book has everything; a love story, plight of women in our society, the Zamindari system of 20th century and a curse too.

‘The Curse of Damini’- After reading the title and looking at the cover I thought this book must be spooky and must have some paranormal things but here the ‘Curse’ is referred to… Well, I can’t disclose everything here. You need to read the book to know about the curse. One more thing, you might be curious to know who Damini is? Well, that’s the suspense. Don’t ask who she is, just read the book and discover Damini.

Spoiler: while reading the book, you will keep on wondering what the real curse is, and you will discover it only at the last few pages.

Likings: Easy Read, Easy Language, Strong Characters, Use of Bengali words (with proper English translation)

Disliking: Not many but this book is anything but scary. (Expected more spooky things)

P.S. I'm really thankful to the Author for providing me a physical copy of the book in exchange of an honest review.

My Ratings: 4/5

[Would have given it full points, had it been more scarier]

(Irrespective of my ratings, you should read this book. A must read)

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