“Some people cross continents to find their heart, while some find it across their street or backyard”
#blurb: Meet the beautiful people of the Circus, and the freaks who live in the Village next to them. Mangled, jangled, misunderstood, all find place in the rich tapestry of this book. Siamese twins separate to lose half a heart each, and find snake-man and tiger-taming lovers. A man bitten by a crocodile becomes a God, and a Devadasi woos the entire countryside with her culinary artistry.Fates intertwined lead sometimes to tragedy, sometimes happy summits of fame. A clown finds his place in Hollywood and mute animals break unspeakable chains. A twisted man falls in love with a mirror and a white man is unmade by the Indian sun.In this book are tales for every season and every reason. Tales of human depravity that take innocent lives, and of a murderers’ insanity that follows, a fitting revenge by nature, red in tooth and claw.These stories are told in the form of narrative poems in rhyming couplets.Look inside and you will find, you have been to this Village. Surely, you have been to this Circus too
Author: Aparna Upadhyaya Sanyal
Publisher: Vishwakarma Publications
Pages: 156
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My Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
The book is a collection of eighteen twisted tales set against the backdrop of a village and a circus nearby it. The stories are in the form of rhyming poems along with beautiful illustrations. The characters are odd and quirky which makes it all the more enthralling. While some of the tales are funny, beautiful, weird, others are sad, despairing and dark. Also the author has tried to address various social issues through the poems. In our society those to do not comply with the set norms are discarded, taunted and isolated. They are looked down upon either because of their sexual orientation or their physical appearance. People yet need to adopt the art of acceptance. The author has beautifully put forward these scenarios of discrimination in her book. When the village people found someone to be misfit, he/he was sent away to the circus where they found a new home. The stories are strangely beautiful and fascinating. The style of narration keeps you mesmerized till the end. The characters quite resemble the characters from old folktales and fairytales which used to be eccentric like the crocodile man or the snake man. I enjoyed reading and listening to such stories in my childhood and this book brought back those memories. The language used can be little difficult for a beginner but nevertheless I would suggest you to read it once. Just pick it up and you are in for a treat. Also the cover is so attractive and eye catching which makes you want to read it more. This book is one of a kind and I highly recommend it to everyone out there. If you want to know more about the circus folk and the village freaks pick it up immediately. This book is going to stay with me for a long time.Please read it once
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