Book Review: FIVE WOMEN by RAKESH SARAF

LANGUAGE : English

FORMAT: Kindle

ASIN: B0922Z8GH1

PAGES: 58

PUBLISHER: Self-published

DESCRIPTION

Stories of five strong women facing stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination. At the end, these are stories of love.

SUMAN’S SECRET

ETHEL’S PRIDE

THE REAL JULIET

SAROJA’S JOURNEY

JUST GANGA

REVIEW

Five Women by Rakesh Saraf is a compilation of short stories weaved around women struggling to stay afloat in the patriarchal society. They were wronged, abused in the hands of their employers and families, sometimes physically and other times mentally, emotionally and financially except for Juliet whose story is different from the rest. Most of them had a lonely childhood and for some the struggle was to earn a decent living and complete their education.

The story of Suman and Ganga were more and less on the similar lines and sounded similar in many ways. Ethel suffered in the hands of her own family and greed for money. Saroja was wronged, pushed into prostitution and crime. Juliet’s story was slightly different from the rest. Her quest to find true love pushed her into precipice of loneliness forever.

The stories are short yet the characters were developed well with a sufficient idea about characters’ past that help you to connect with them better.

I liked author’s idea of giving education a due importance in the stories. Also author’s love for reading is evident from the stories.

The narration was good and language was cogent and rich.

I personally loved the monochromatic cover very much, although there are six women on the cover page.

The title is simple, straight and yet evokes a curiosity.

My only issue with the book was that a little more could be added to storyline in terms of variety. The stories of Ganga, Saroja and Suman were more or less on the similar lines.

Other than that the book is an absolute treat, it touches you deep inside and you feel an instant connection with the characters.

RATING

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars

RECOMMENDATION

If you love to read short stories and crime against women issues, you are going to love this one. The stories have an emotional side that certainly touches the heart.