Hello everyone,
During the pandemic, I switched my choices for ‘fun’ reading from dystopian fiction to historical fiction, and it was very very fulfilling. I was taken from the world of the Mughals to World War 2 and into the world of maharajas, princesses and spies. I am drawn to books with strong female characters and all of the books I read had female protagonists.
However, I quickly found that the trope of the ‘rebellious’ girl was being repeated over and over again in many of these books. There is nothing wrong with portraying a rebellious character, but I often felt that these women were being rebellious just for the sake of it, with no clear explanation as to what made them the way they were - or an explanation that wasn’t deep or satisfying enough. So much so that as lovable as they all were, all these characters starting sounding and acting the same. Right from Gunjan Saxena, the first female army pilot, to unwed and pregnant Charlotte in the Alice Network (I loved the book) to Rani Jindan.
A book which does the whole narrative well is The Henna Artist. In it, we see Ratna, the Henna Artist’s sister come to town and become enamoured by Jaipur’s elite society. She is shown as young and impressionable and often neglected. She gets embroiled with the wrong people and reads books about love and passion at a very young age. So when she enters a relationship that is all wrong - the reader understands. The same goes for the henna artist herself. She has escaped an abusive marriage and has made her way in the world on her own. While there are certain elements that do seem contrived, the narrative comes together.
Book Recommendation
A Requiem in Janki Raga is historical fiction done really well. It is the fictionalised story of Allahabadi singer Janki Bai and her rise to fame in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The author spends a lot of time developing her character and her motivations. We see how an unfortunate incident in her childhood left her physically scarred and how that trauma manifested itself throughout her life. The fact that her mother was robbed of all her gold made Janki invest in property. The fact that her friends were all Muslim made her convert to Islam. Her journey is meticulously recorded and entirely credible. And along the way, we are introduced to other fascinating characters were history including the famous and enigmatic Gauhar Jaan who was the first singer to record on the gramophone.
Podcasting: I recently interviewed author Diksha Basu for my podcast Books and Beyond with Bound and we spoke about creating badass women characters. I love her books The Windfall and Destination Wedding, and noticed that in both books she has characters who are older women who fall in love later on in life. Stay tuned for the podcast episode to find out why! ;)
I also spoke to author Moni Mohsin for the podcast and we spoke about the role of social satire, publishing in the West and how she thinks only the wealthy should be made fun of! She spoke about how it’s really difficult for South Asian stories that don’t showcase to get published in the West. And I am guessing that this is why many hated Slumdog Millionaire and The White Tiger. I understand, but to me, a good story is a good story.
Did you guys love or hate White Tiger? And why?
I loved it because I felt it did accurately show one side of India. The acting was also superb. Western gaze aside, I thought it was a story that deserved to be told.
I have learnt so many things about podcasting - how to make a trailer strong and succinct, how to ask great questions and create a rapport with the guest, a lot of the technical stuff too! And I am going to be conducting an in-depth class on podcasting in February. There are only few seats because one of the objectives is to have everyone finish the class with their own trailer!
Here is a video of me talking about my podcasting experience:
About me:I am an entrepreneur, book editor and podcaster. Here is my editing and content consulting website: http://tarakhandelwal.com/. Here is my company’s website: https://boundindia.com/We provide skill-building to creatives in the form of classes, mentoring and retreats. And here’s the link to my podcast Books and Beyond With Bound, India’s no 1 author interview podcast :
What is this newsletter: A fortnightly letter about the books I have read and how the ideas they give me filter into my life, career and opinions.
If you have read any of the books mentioned or have thoughts on any of the things I have written - do write in! Would love to hear from you.
Tara
Until next time!