There are some books which are breezy read; the kind that you read on the beach during your summer holidays and then there are others which make you stop and think, revisit the pages and give you a new perspective on your own life. Where does Ramona by Manoj V Jain fall in this spectrum? First, let’s get to know the book better.
About the book
Sitting on an armchair near the window, Ramona-separated, mother of a son and a cookery teacher—muses on the events that have happened in her life in the recent past. A letter from her husband, not even nearly justifying his mysterious disappearance, shocks her and topples her world upside down. Bombarded by a thousand questions, accusations, a tumult of emotions and confusion, she begins to untie the knots one at a time with help from her family. But what she wasn’t able to do over months, a stranger does within a matter of minutes.
My Review
In the author’s words, Ramona was not intended to be a complete novel but her story was so compelling that the book can stand alone even if you haven’t read Balraj, the author’s previous book. The book starts off with Ramona and her family travelling to Varanasi to immerse the ashes of her father in law in the holy waters.
Little by little, through Ramona’s flashbacks we begin to understand what has transpired. We journey with Ramona as she is hopeful, numb with pain and then angry at her plight. She decides to start a new life for herself only to be bound by the evergreen ‘log kya kahenge?’ Ramona’s story is the story of every other woman in India.
An interesting concept ABCDE is introduced in this noevel; Activating an event, Beliefs about things, situtations or ourselves, C is for the Consequence or our reactions to the situations based on our beliefs, D is for disputing where one should try to examine the belief from a different view point and finally E is for effects where you replace your belief with effective beliefs which will help you rather than cause harm. It is ABCDE that makes Ramona look at her life from a different lens and sets her free before she travels to the Holy City.
The end I quite abrupt and I wanted a little more build up to the story. How did Vinod realize that his family was travelling to Varanasi? How did he manage to locate them? Why did Ramona forgive in a matter of minutes? I wish the book was a few pages longer to satisfy all the questions buzzing in my head. The concepts that are woven into the story make a fascinating read but should have been researched a little better. Overall, Ramona by Manoj V. Jain is a light and easy read. 🙂
I am a 25 year old blogger who believes in the power of story telling and using personal experiences to blog about things close to my heart. I started Munni of all Trades 4 years back to share my ideas, thoughts and views on things that I am passionate about. I blog about things that make me happy and by extension my readers, too..
Wonderful! ??
Too Good
Hmmm, humse kuch to relate karta hi hai, full story dekhna hoga ?? interesting hai
Sounds like a good book to read with full of emotions.
This is the first time I am hearing about this book and author. I am quite curious now. I am always looking for new books to read so I might add this one onto my list! I am glad you like the read.
As a book reviewer myself, I always enjoy reading reviews by fellow reviewers. This one was an interesting and light read, I”m assuming perfect for the beach!
Sounds like a very interesting read. I will have to check it out. I don’t have much time to sit and read lately so a not so lengthy novel is perfect for my time. Thank You
Interesting review! I am very curious to read this book. Thank you for sharing your review. 🙂
This sounds like a great book. I love books that you can automatically get right into.
Sounds like a book I would enjoy. I definitely need to find some new books for the winter.
Sounds interesting, plus i need a new book for my upcoming trip. Will visit the bookshop online for this one. Thanks for the heads-up!
Sounds like you might have Ramona sequel 🙂