Book Review: Where you belong ~ Barbara Taylor Bradford

Introduction

Relationships are a very integral part of our lives as wherever we go we form new relationships. Our lives are really incomplete without them. In this book the author has beautifully displayed myriad forms of human relationships like parents, friends, lovers, grandparents, colleagues etc. Through her eloquent writing she has added a mystic charm which these special things truly deserve.

Behind the Book

ISBN: 0-385-49275-8

Publishers: Double Day

Year of Publication: 2000

Source : Google Images

About the Author

Barbara Taylor Bradford is a best selling English novelist. For more details about the author please visit www.barbarataylorbradford.com

'Me' thinks

Where you belong is the story of Valentine Denning, a war photographer based in Paris. She comes across as a beautiful woman, seeking love and acceptance from each one around her. Each one of us has some amount of Valentine in us – confused about our identity, looking for a sense of belonging, finding love and feeling hurt and let down by some of our loved ones.

The language and flow of the story is very easy and unpretentious. The foreword by the author states how she had to change the narrator’s angle in the story to that of Valentine when she was almost in the middle of the story. And her thought is actually praiseworthy. This story has been told as if Valentine herself is narrating and this is where the beauty lies.

You feel the emotions she goes through very well as if she was a sitting in front of us and narrating it. Author’s superb writing skills manage to bring out the beauty of human emotions very well. Lies, deceit, betrayal, friendship, love and care are some of the emotions you might come across is this journey of Valentine. The author manages to do complete justice to each one of them by showing them in a newer light. As you accompany Valentine on a journey where she rediscovers her true self you realize how complex we seem to make our life for ourselves.

We tend to take most of things in our life for granted specially our relationships and never realize the true value of them till we have lost them. We keep on looking for love all around the world only to conclude it was very much there all around from the very beginning. Reading this book might make you question your own sense of belonging and could also be the reason for you to embark on a journey of self discovery.

This book is considered to be one of the master pieces crafted by Barbara Taylor Bradford and I completely second that view as it is a must read for each one of us to recognize the love we are surrounded with.

Foodie Verdict

Source: Google Images

This book is like a sundae ice cream - nutty in one bite, chocolaty in other. Full of surprises in each bite (Read : Page!!)

This book review was published in Kaleidoscope Magazine's June 2012 issue.

Movie Review: If by Tathagata Ghosh – A Tender Portrait of Love, Loss, and Possibility

If , a 26-minute short film by acclaimed Bengali filmmaker Tathagata Ghosh, is a sensitive, evocative piece of storytelling that lingers long after the credits roll. Set against the everyday rhythm of life in Kolkata, the film delicately unpacks the story of a lesbian couple torn apart by the weight of societal expectations and dares to imagine a different future, one where a mother's love might just change everything. What struck me first was the film’s raw, grounded realism. The characters feel like people we know, middle-class families navigating a complex world with quiet resilience. The world of If is filled with silences, glances, and stills, rather than heavy dialogue. Ghosh masterfully uses these moments to speak volumes, allowing viewers to sit with discomfort, interpret the unspoken, and feel deeply.

Book Review: The Story of Eve: Selected Poems by Zehra Nigah

Few voices in Urdu poetry have carried the weight of history, resistance, and deep personal introspection quite like Zehra Nigah. One of the first women to break into the traditionally male-dominated world of Urdu poetry, Nigah’s work stands as a testament to the power of words to illuminate, question, and challenge. The Story of Eve: Selected Poems, translated by Rakshanda Jalil, brings together some of her most powerful nazms and ghazals, showcasing both her literary elegance and her unflinching gaze at the human condition, particularly through the lens of gender, social injustice, and political turmoil.

The Urban Gaze : Reimagining the Village in Contemporary Indian Cinema

Indian cinema has long been fascinated with the village. From the earthy, socialist realism of Do Bigha Zamin (1953) to the melodramatic lament of Mother India (1957), the village once stood as both heartland and hinterland — a space of moral clarity, rustic struggle, and often unyielding fate. But as the urban middle class began to dominate cinematic production and consumption, the depiction of the village increasingly came to reflect an urban gaze, that is, a perspective shaped by distance, nostalgia, condescension, or even outright fantasy. In recent years, this urban gaze has taken on new shades, evident in the way mainstream and indie filmmakers alike have re-engaged with rural India. While some have tried to explore the village as a site of resistance, authenticity, or even horror, others continue to reproduce sanitized or exaggerated versions of village life that serve urban sensibilities more than rural realities.

Reviews & Musings

Search This Blog