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- The Absurd Adventures of Mira Reviewed By Lavanya Karthik of Bookpleasures.com
The Absurd Adventures of Mira Reviewed By Lavanya Karthik of Bookpleasures.com
- By Lavanya Karthik
- Published June 4, 2012
- GENERAL FICTION REVIEWS
Lavanya Karthik
Reviewer
Lavanya Karthik: Lavanya is from Mumbai, India and is a licensed
architect and consultant in environmental management. She lives in
Mumbai with her husband and six-year old daughter. She loves reading
and enjoys a diverse range of authors across genres.
Follow Here To Purchase The Absurd Adventures of Mira
Author: Sujata Rayers
Publisher: Black Rose
Writing
ISBN: 978-1-61296-108-8
Here, at last, is an Asian
Indian character in Western fiction as far from the stereotype as it
is possible to be. Mira Shankar is grossly overweight, obsessed with
fashion, and an underachiever in a family of college professors and
med students. Forget acing the Spelling Bee or
sailing early into Harvard – Mira can barely graduate high
school. When she is raped during a school dance, she is
betrayed by both her family and the school authorities, and her
health and legal rights ignored.
Things look up when
she meets idealistic, Jheri-curled Andy and they begin a life
together, with a truly oddball collection of friends and neighbors.
Mira embarks on a program of healthy eating and self esteem building,
and finds a fulfilling job in fashion. Too good to be
true, you say? You betcha for , shortly after, Andy is
killed and Mira finds herself alone again. She starts afresh,
with a foster son and divorced sister in tow, begins sessions with a
kindly therapist (who clearly doesn’t take his own advice)and
slowly works her way to fulfillment, forgiveness and happiness.
‘Mira..’ is chock full of interesting, eccentric
characters, and the author seems to have enjoyed herself making
their individual quirks come to life. In fact, purely in terms of its
cast of characters, ‘Mira..’ reminded me of a John Irving novel
– ordinary people in everyday environments going
through the most extraordinary experiences and emerging the stronger
for it . Rayers’ humor is often dark and the ordeals she puts
her characters through, taxing; nonetheless, she tells her story with
empathy. Despite the trauma Mira has suffered – rape, parental
abandonment - she holds on to her essential goodness, and is hard to
dislike, even if you are sometimes dismayed at her submissiveness at
crucial points in the story.
The sheer vibrancy of the cast –
and there are some gems here - demanded a longer book; at 170 pages,
it feels rushed and leaves you a little dissatisfied. At times,
the book reads too much like a dieting guide. It is also weighed down
by a rather monotonous narrative; Mira’s story demanded a
livelier voice . I was, however, impressed with the sudden
change in writing style in the chapter describing Andy’s death –
the detached tone and parallels drawn with a children’s story made
for a chilling read.
A feel-good book about second- and third
- chances, family and finding one’s path.