Author: Soumyadeep Koley
Published By: Gargi Publishers
Pages: 260 pages
Price: Rs. 225
ISBN: 978-93-843-8208-7
About The Author:
Soumyadeep Koley is the author of ‘Her Resurrection – A Survivor’s Journey of Emancipation, Reclamation and Redemption.’
This debut novel won worldwide critical acclaim, due to its literary style and portrayal of society’s harsh realities. His paranormal thriller,’ The Hitchhiker,’ was awarded the Best Short Story of the Year 2016 by SalisOnline Literary Magazine. As a women’s rights activist, Soumyadeep has worked with Jason Jayology Jeremias, the Founder and Artistic Director of Price of Silence, New York, which employs Performing Arts to bring the global struggle for women’s rights to life.
Soumyadeep is a counselling psychologist, and has four years of experience in psychological counselling of domestic violence and rape survivors from India and abroad, through unique mystical and metaphysical techniques.
So begins Maya’s story in the picturesque countryside of Maharashtra, where she grows up amidst cruelty and domestic violence, being an unwanted girl-child. Yet, like a lonesome beacon beset by sinister wilderness, she pursues her dreams of reaching the stars with her tiny wings. One night, a twist of fate triggers a series of incidents, when she loses everything she had—even her virginity.
Severely traumatized after her father’s death, her mother’s imprisonment, and her own gang-rape, Maya finds herself all alone in the streets of Mumbai, with wolves lurking around for raw flesh. She’s weary, but not wary. She has no sense of the fate that awaits her. What follows, would change her life forever, as also yours, as her heart wrenching, yet inspiring story echoes through time.
I don't know what to say about this book. As I was reading I was able to visualize each and every incident mentioned in the story. The Author has done a tremendous work. I am not sure whether Maya (the protagonist) is a fictional or a non-fictional character but surely she is just like any other girl whom we see in our daily life.
Born in a village, Maya's life was never easy. A drunkard father who considered her as a burden tried to make her marry at an age of 8. How cruel, right? Well even before that, at a tender age of 5, Maya was sexually tortured. Anyways she get saved from the marriage but life made it even more difficult for her to live.
Well to know her story, you know to read the book. I can't narrate the entire plot line here.
The way the book is written, it will keep you hooked till the very last page. The Author has made complete research on Women and their plight in our society before writing the book. Full credits to the Author, don't remember the last time I had read such a wonderful book.
We often see a Raped person as a victim but we hardly read any story of Rape survivor. This story is about a girl who never loose hope. Even after getting sexually abused, even after getting raped, even after losing her mother, Maya chased her dreams. This story is about a girl's struggle and will take you in a journey of Mays's life.
Trust me, you can't miss reading this book. I don't know whether you will cry at the end but trust me you will be a different person after reading this book.
My Ratings: 4.5/5
( 0.5 less only because of an abrupt ending or else the book really deserved full points)
