Quiet Screams to the Quiet Healer - Nilanjana Haldar

Author: Nilanjana Haldar

Genre: Drama.

Rating: 2 stars.

In a Nutshell: The book tackles the difficult and intense theme of domestic abuse but takes a very verbose and meandering approach towards it. The writing style might work for some readers but it wasn’t my cup of tea.

Story:

Sanjana, a teenager whose mom deals with constant domestic violence from her husband, and Kriti, whose dad has an advanced kidney ailment, are best friends and the main pillars of support for each other. The story is written in three broad parts: the friendship and bond between the two girls in their high school years, Sanjana’s years in Delhi after her family shifts there, and Sanjana’s (and Kriti’s) adulthood, with details on their career, ambitions and relationships.

The story is written in a partially omniscient third person narration.

Where the book worked for me:

❤ The bond between the two main characters is very strong and comes out clearly.

❤ It’s not easy to take a tough topic such as domestic violence and make it seem not OTT but relatable. The book documents well the experiences of children who deal with domestic abuse and the impact this has on their psyche. In addition, the author also covers the topic of parental expectations and societal pressures, doing fair justice to both.

❤ I loved the dedication of the book. “To the person who witnessed constant suffering as a child. It’s not yours to bear, remember!” How true is that!

❤ The situations in the first section of the book were quite realistic. The second section was also fairly connectable.

❤ There are some really impactful lines which hit you hard.

Where the book could have worked better for me:

💔 The plot flow is almost stream of consciousness in its approach, with the trail going all through the forest instead of sticking to the carved-out path. I don’t mind a meandering style, but in this case, I feel it diluted the impact the book could have had if it had stuck to its focus.

💔 The writing style is very conversational and doesn’t suit the age of the characters at times. For instance, in the first section where the girls are supposed to be eighth graders, their speaking style seems more akin to that of 7-8 year olds with their hyper-excitement. When Sanjana scolds some adults for their behaviour, the kind of sentence formations she uses don’t seem like teen lingo at all but like that of a mature adult. The dialogue style is thus quite erratic.

💔 There are shades of magical realism and mystical philosophy. Neither of these are genres I enjoy much. These are mainly in the third section and hence I couldn’t connect with this section at all.

💔 There are way too many minor characters in the book. I can imagine how difficult it must be as an author to let go of some characters but too many people can dilute the impact of the plot.

💔 The editing of the book needed to be tighter. Even beyond the excessive characters and the internal monologues, here are many scenes that might work for short term impact but weren’t truly necessary for the overall plot. Reading a 475 page book is an intense time investment but this story could have easily been brought down by at least a hundred pages with better editing.

💔 I don’t know why but I got a feeling that this was more of a semi-fictionalised memoir than pure fiction. Many segments of the story felt like flashback narrations from something that actually happened. As such, a part of me wonders if the impact of the book would have been greater had it been written in the first person pov of Sanjana.

💔 There is too much of direct speech in the content. This doesn’t sound natural in its flow. It feels like a lot of telling without enough of showing.

💔 There are many coincidental elements in the plot. A great part of the first section felt like “A Series of Unfortunate Events”. (Sorry, Lemony Snicket!)

💔 The book comprises multiple sections, each dealing with a specific phase of Sanjana’s life. Despite this, the story doesn’t come together cohesively into one whole due to the writing style. Each seems to have its own distinct approach.

All in all, I liked the intent behind the story but I feel it could have worked wonders with better execution and a lot of editing.

This is the author’s first novel, and based on my interactions with her so far, she seems like a genuinely enthusiastic and sweet person with an affinity for magical realism. These traits of hers are visible in her debut work. So it breaks my heart to give such a feedback but I can’t claim to have liked this work beyond 2 stars. It might be a good book for those who enjoy free-flowing tomes with an overarching kind of approach towards the core topic, but such books never work for me and hence this turned out to be an average experience.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author and these are my honest thoughts about it.