Author– Sanchali Bhattacharya

Book– A Home For Urvashi

Previous Works–  Ashes & Roses

Publishers– Harper Collins India

Number of Pages– 346

Format– Paperback

Blurb-

Death separates Dulari from her beloved twin sister, Ujjwala. Forlorn, her spirit remains on Earth as a powerless but constant companion to Ujjwala. Like the apsara Urvashi, she has the power to travel between worlds but no family, no one to love. Dulari has a dream: she hopes to be reborn as Ujjwala’s daughter and find a home for herself. Twenty-nine years have gone by, but her dream remains unfulfilled. There is hope, though, for Ujjwala has a son and now longs for a daughter. Then arrives a man from Ujjwala’s past. His presence upsets her life and sets into motion a series of events that threaten to destroy her completely. Only Dulari can save her sister, but to do that, she must relinquish her dream. Sensitively written and evocative, A Home for Urvashi depicts the bond of sisterhood that goes beyond life and death.

Review-

A Home for Urvashi by Sanchali Bhattacharya is a soul touching story of Dulari. Separated from her twin in the childhood itself, when life was kind to her twin Ujjwala, while death embraced the tiny body of Dulari, her soul never left her sister’s side. Growing with her, learning with her, she nurtured only one wish within her, the wish of rebirth. Having an unacknowledged presence in Ujjwala’s life, Dulari had to take decisions when her sister falls into the whirlpool of threats.

The concept of the book was absolutely beautiful , considering the fact that there must not be too many books that write about emotions of a spirit. It’s a book on sisterhood, or more of one sided emotions of a free spirit.

The first half of the book that focuses on the emotions of Dulari, are rather beautifully depicted. A reader would relate to it as the story progresses, they would love to know more about her and her wishes.

The ghosts of Ujjwala’s past were worth the read as its a bit of something a reader would not have been able to predict.

The book has a really beautiful cover, showing probably the spirit of Dulari as she struggles to find a resolve for her dilemma.

Als0 Read- Review Pen: Austenistan by Laaleen Sukhera

I loved the way the title of the book has been chosen, after you complete reading the book, you know the meaning behind it,that dwell in a depth.

Ratings-

Cover- 3.5 star

Title- 3.5 star

Blurb- 2 star

Plot- 2 star

Writing and Presentation- 3 star

Overall- 2.8 stars out of 5

It just focuses on the emotions of one sister, while the bond that it describes of, in the blurb, is missing.

The description of afterlife, is somewhat childish for the taste of a reader who would be reading about a bond that goes beyond life and death.

The emotional part , where Dulari just keeps talking about herself and her feelings towards the human world, were really heart touching  and portions like this are what make a book different than others and determine how they would be received by the readers. But then eventually the book changes to some sort of crime fiction with powerful spirits, thus changing the entire foundation of the book.

This book would have been far better had the execution of the plot been in a different direction.

Reviewed by- Banaja Prakashini

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About Sanchali  Bhattachaarya-

An electrical engineer from Jadavpur University, Sanchali Bhattacharya is a director in her own engineering and manufacturing company. Sanchali’s short stories have featured in The Statesman. She is married and has a son. She lives in Kolkata.