Oleander Girl

Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Publisher: Penguin Books India, New Delhi
(Pp 289, ISBN 978-06-70086-73-3, Rs 499)

When it’s a book from Chitra Banerjee Devakaruni, you can be sure that you will get to read an insight into a girl’s mind. Author of sixteen novels like The Mistress of Spices and The Palace of Illusions, Chitra knows where and how to click the right chords in the reader’s mind.

Oleander Girl is a story of a young girl Korobi (meaning oleander) who takes on a quest to know more about her ‘dead’ parents. What she learns on her journey to her truth shatters her completely…but like her name oleander which is capable of surviving drought and frost and the loss of love, Korobi emerges as a mature and confident young woman. There are moments of despair, shock…then there are moment of love, cheer and ultimately happiness. The emotions shown in the book are so real…you feel sympathy when the girl is in shock and you love her when she emerges strong. A beautiful book from the acclaimed author!

– Varsha Verma