Title: Unsettled (ebook)

Grab a copy here: http://www.indireads.com/books/unsettled/

Author: Neelima Vinod

Rating: 4/5

About the Author (From the novella)

Neelima Vinod spent her childhood being schooled in the Persian Gulf and holidaying in the warm, dreamy climes of southern India. Writing about the supernatural is an inevitable outcome of contact with the heritage of the subcontinent. She has acquired her M. Phil in English Literature and worked as an editor, teacher and writer. She now lives in Bangalore, India. Her current obsessions are her twin sons, the books on her shelf and off it, and her poetry blog.

Publisher: 

Indireads was started with the aim to revolutionizing the popular fiction genre in South Asia. With edgy, contemporary and compelling fiction by new writers and its digital-only publishing model, Indireads is breaking new ground in terms of the reading experience and giving voice to new writing talent.

Now for my view:

Unsettled is a tale of love lost and found, a tale of salvaging a dying relationship through a miracle of the past. When Divya chances upon her husband Raghav consoling his childhood friend Anu in a manner too close for comfort her harshest fears are realized. Her doubts about him having an affair seem valid after his growing proximity with Anu. Raghav on the other hand is exhausted with Divya’s prying questions and constant scrutiny. What they had, their rapport and love, is on the brink of collapse. But then Divya meets a counsellor Dr. Ray as a last attempt to salvage her marriage and her life as a whole. Strangely though he points her towards Cherakad, her village, to seek answers, to heal the wounded relationship she is in.

Dr. Ray takes Divya back through clouds of memories into Cherkad where there is an ancient house, a big house, which according to legend is haunted by a yakshi, Thathri. The answer Dr. Ray says lies in the five hundred year old scrolls of love that Thathri guards. He nudges Divya and later Raghav to travel together, take a break from their lives and visit Cherkad to find the answer to their problems, the scrolls of love. Reluctantly and with questions in their minds, they travel to get the scrolls which has been guarded by a spirit. Are they successful? Do they get back their love? Well I can’t tell you that, can I? But I say this for sure that you’ll find the answers in the pages of Unsettled.

Now about the writing what do I say except that Neelima has a great hold on the English language and why not since she is after all an M. Phil in English literature? The best thing however about this novella is that it takes you back in time as it traverses the history of the yakshi and the house. For me Divya and Raghav were just mediums to tell this tale set a long time ago, a tale of love and longing. The real charm of Unsettled for me was definitely Thathri and her saga.

The characters especially of Thathri has been sketched with panache and that makes the story believable in spite of being a tale of the supernatural. Neelima beautifully combines love with supernatural elements and adorns it with an awe inspiring anecdote from the past which for me makes Unsettled an enjoyable read.

There is just one thing that troubled me which was lack of clarity in some sections. What I mean is I had to re-read some parts to move forward in the story. Certain implied thoughts didn’t register with me as quickly as it usually does like why Dr. Ray pushed them towards Thathri. Maybe I’ve just become slow in grasping stuff! But nevertheless I loved reading Unsettled very much. And I do recommend it for you.

Thank you Indireads for giving me the opportunity to read such great stories