03 Oct THE WITCH IN THE PEEPUL TREE | Arefa Tehsin
This book is one among those that you cannot put it down until it is completed. With that being said, you have guess it right! This one goes into my favourites cupboard in my library. THE PLOT It is the year 1950-recently independent India and the day of Makar Sankrati, a brother discovers his sixteen year old sister Sanaz's dead body in their own house in Bohrawadi, Udaipur. There are a few people in the house the same day. Ranging from the zamindar Rao Sahib of Singhgarh, a unardently devout conman Hariharan, a Bhil(secluded tribe in west India) Nathu, a nightsoil worker Parjat. There are other members in the house, Dada Bhai- Sanaz's father, Mena Bai- Sanaz's mother, her three brothers and her grandmother widow Sugra. And one must not forget the witch -jeevti dakkan that's lives in the peepul tree near the house. Once the police arrives, their investigation leads to something sinister that they end up closing the case the same day. THE UNDERWHELMING ASPECTS The introduction of characters coming into the house is quite lengthy and a bit of the part could've been removed. The backstory of Parijat and Nathu seemed quite unrelated in certain aspects which can lead the reader away from the main plot. THE GOOD ASPECTS Not in a million dreams will you ever know the reason why and how Sanaz's dies. The caste system and the oppressed situations of low caste people are interwined quite well in the story. Sanaz's aunt Khatheeja's character interesting takes the book further leading us to...