Book Review: The Shadow of the Dark Soul
Nirbhaya case had taken the entire nation by shock. It was one of the most talked about and heartfelt case in the history of Delhi Rapes. This particular incident has again come to the limelight, due to the juvenile being released free after committing such an atrocious crime. In the midst of all of this when I got the opportunity to review this one, I did not want to let it go.
Zayesha is a journalist who has been given the task, to research about the Nirbhaya case. She is in competition with her colleague for this. Inspite of this, as the book progresses she fights her inner demons and takes a life changing decision. A very bold and courageous one, indeed. What makes her take that decision, is the story of The Shadow of the Dark Soul.
The book starts off with the author’s views about Rapes in India. It is a very researched narrative as the author has mentioned a lot of cases. It is very intriguing to read about all those cases. Also I salute Sukhmani Gandhi for giving such strong, courageous and bold views on the verdict and the statements of the so called known people of the society, on those cases. A line that still plays on my mind is “Why do we call a person who has been raped as a Victim? She has gone through hell, doesn’t that make her a survivor???” It was a sheer delight to read those thought provoking pages. Apart from rape, the author shares some light on LGBT, rape on men, children born out of rapes. All the topics entwined, forms the beautiful story of The Shadow of the Dark Soul. All the topics have been touched so smoothly that it etches in your heart almost immediately. The character of Zayesha, her neighbour – Mrs.Chandelier, Liza – the neighbour’s daughter, Armaan have all been crafted to the T. They have been woven very intricately and that is the USP of this book. The climax is a Eureka moment. You want to stand up and applaud the author for showing such a valiant character in Zayesha.
Only a few hiccups. I wish the cover page would have been designed as perfectly as the characters in the book. It neither creates interest to read the book nor does it depict even 1% of the strength the characters and the storyline possess. The only other put off are the grammatical errors. If those edits were perfect this book would have got a perfect score!!
A quick and must Read!
Title: The Shadow of the Dark Soul
Authors : Sukhmani Gandhi
Publisher/ Imprint: Cypher Publishers
Pages: 80
Genre/ Sub Genre: Fiction/ Drama
Rating: 3.75 of 5.00
Reviewed for: Author
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