Bhagyashree Ranade

Bookshelf Whispers: A Tale of Love, Life and Legacy Bhagyashree Ranade

The novel is a period love story involving Emilie, a foreign exchange student, visiting the Prabhu Wada, where she falls in love with Akinsa, a resident of the Wada and a passionate, aspiring Kabbadi player. The cultural differences create conflict and strife which Emilie tries to overcome by her grit and determination. Will they make it, or will it end in heartbreak? The book very effectively portrays the impact of prevalent socio-cultural, traditional, and patriarchal influences, on the lives of the inhabitants of the Wada and their interpersonal relationships. The turbulence, the agony and ecstasy of relationships has been depicted very subtly and poignantly. The complexities of relationships and human nature with all its vagaries and idiosyncrasies, have remained unchanged down the ages and that's what makes this narrative very contemporary, simultaneously adding the element of nostalgia of a bygone era.