rebelbooksta's review
4.0
Selamat Hari Merdeka, Malaysia. joining in the celebration with our neighbours through this bookish post set in Malaya written by a Malaysian author. Amalgam of the past and present.
"The Yal is a lute. In ancient times, a blind Panan lute player visited a king in Ceylon. The king was so captivated by the Yal player's music that he gifted the blind Panan musician with land on his island.
Soon, the lute player filled this new land with people from his homeland
In India. This new settlement was called ‘Yalpanam’ land of the blind minstrel. Jaffna is a corruption of the Tamil word ‘Yalpanam’.”
Shivani is a gifted writer with the flair for lyrical writing that beautifies the time travel premise. An eerie atmosphere engulfs you right from the start. Spooky tale that keeps the reader on edge wondering if the 185 years old Pushpanayagi is an immortal spirit reigning over the Yalpanam house on Coal island in Malaysia since colonial days. The house was gifted to her by her once, late lover Richard Miller. Shivani takes her time in painting the lush landscape surrounding Yalpanam. Magnetic descriptions that draws you right to the heart of Coal Island. Gave me nostalgia. Arrestingly beautiful and haunting.
Pushpanayagi trapped in a memory vortex, keeps reliving her past through hallucinations, seeing apparitions, interacting with dark spirits naked to the human eye. She recalls her journey from Yalpanam to Coal island by sea as a British subject and then surviving the brutal Japanese occupation. Mysterious deaths occur right under her nose. The house could be a mausoleum after all housing the buried remnants in her beloved garden of luscious vegetables. Pushpa dealt with her lover’s cousin Charles who came with his mentally distressed wife Mary to live in Yalpanam. One by one, his caretaker the Opium-riddled Abu, even his second wife Savitri, they died and were buried. Was Pushpa the spooky Shaman who prophesied under the Banyan tree that the town gossiped about her to be or did she exact revenge for the injustice done to her people by the Colonialists?
Loved Shivani’s timely scathing responses to the discrimination Pushpa faced. Loved her fierce pride for the Yalpanam Tamils. Interlaced with spot on political satire. Really, what a gifted writer!
Unable to fathom the mysteries, Maxim runs away from her home and parents to live with Pushpa in Yalpanam. Until now I have my doubts if Maxim was interacting with an apparition conjured from hallucinations as a result of her own genetically inherited mental condition and her snooping around letters of Pushpa’s. Shivani knows the exact magic in bringing the dead to life. A little bit of Inception like narrative in a haunted house. Lived up to the mystery and wonder the story promised. Such a sensual feast.
I’ve become a fan of Shivani’s writing. Loved Yalpanam so much and looking forward to reading the rest of her works. Yalpanam is a literal haunting experience I indulged in. Felt the author personifying her beloved Achi in Pushpanayagi. Beautiful yet haunting. Arresting book cover by Meena Rajaesekaran. Brilliant!
#shivanisivagurunathan #Yalpanam #PenguinSEA #MeenaRajasekaran#publiclibrarysg #nlbsg #paperback #igreads #bookstagram #book #read #readersofinstagram #bibliophile #bookreivewersofinstagram #bookreview #bookish #malaysianwriters #malaysianliterature #fiction
"The Yal is a lute. In ancient times, a blind Panan lute player visited a king in Ceylon. The king was so captivated by the Yal player's music that he gifted the blind Panan musician with land on his island.
Soon, the lute player filled this new land with people from his homeland
In India. This new settlement was called ‘Yalpanam’ land of the blind minstrel. Jaffna is a corruption of the Tamil word ‘Yalpanam’.”
Shivani is a gifted writer with the flair for lyrical writing that beautifies the time travel premise. An eerie atmosphere engulfs you right from the start. Spooky tale that keeps the reader on edge wondering if the 185 years old Pushpanayagi is an immortal spirit reigning over the Yalpanam house on Coal island in Malaysia since colonial days. The house was gifted to her by her once, late lover Richard Miller. Shivani takes her time in painting the lush landscape surrounding Yalpanam. Magnetic descriptions that draws you right to the heart of Coal Island. Gave me nostalgia. Arrestingly beautiful and haunting.
Pushpanayagi trapped in a memory vortex, keeps reliving her past through hallucinations, seeing apparitions, interacting with dark spirits naked to the human eye. She recalls her journey from Yalpanam to Coal island by sea as a British subject and then surviving the brutal Japanese occupation. Mysterious deaths occur right under her nose. The house could be a mausoleum after all housing the buried remnants in her beloved garden of luscious vegetables. Pushpa dealt with her lover’s cousin Charles who came with his mentally distressed wife Mary to live in Yalpanam. One by one, his caretaker the Opium-riddled Abu, even his second wife Savitri, they died and were buried. Was Pushpa the spooky Shaman who prophesied under the Banyan tree that the town gossiped about her to be or did she exact revenge for the injustice done to her people by the Colonialists?
Loved Shivani’s timely scathing responses to the discrimination Pushpa faced. Loved her fierce pride for the Yalpanam Tamils. Interlaced with spot on political satire. Really, what a gifted writer!
Unable to fathom the mysteries, Maxim runs away from her home and parents to live with Pushpa in Yalpanam. Until now I have my doubts if Maxim was interacting with an apparition conjured from hallucinations as a result of her own genetically inherited mental condition and her snooping around letters of Pushpa’s. Shivani knows the exact magic in bringing the dead to life. A little bit of Inception like narrative in a haunted house. Lived up to the mystery and wonder the story promised. Such a sensual feast.
I’ve become a fan of Shivani’s writing. Loved Yalpanam so much and looking forward to reading the rest of her works. Yalpanam is a literal haunting experience I indulged in. Felt the author personifying her beloved Achi in Pushpanayagi. Beautiful yet haunting. Arresting book cover by Meena Rajaesekaran. Brilliant!
#shivanisivagurunathan #Yalpanam #PenguinSEA #MeenaRajasekaran#publiclibrarysg #nlbsg #paperback #igreads #bookstagram #book #read #readersofinstagram #bibliophile #bookreivewersofinstagram #bookreview #bookish #malaysianwriters #malaysianliterature #fiction
pagesofelly's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
In this novel, we are immersed completely in an old colonial house on Coal Island in Malaysia, which is swarming with ghosts - shadows that linger and tell stories of a beaten past. In Yalpanam, Pushpayangi, who has lived up to one hundred and eighty-five year old as a recluse, struggles to avoid the shadows and spirits - of her loved ones and vengeful enemies, who continue to scream for her attention. Her life was changed by the sudden appearance of eighteen-year-old Maxim, who seeks a new adventure after being sheltered by her family all this time.
🔖 This was an intriguing read, to say the least. Following the unlikely blossoming of friendship and the constant exploration of what is reality against fantasy, the mind is constantly wondering. The characters come alive, in the retelling of past and present struggles, uncovering historical moments and modern day politics. Would recommend this read for an escape on a weekend morning.
🔖 This was an intriguing read, to say the least. Following the unlikely blossoming of friendship and the constant exploration of what is reality against fantasy, the mind is constantly wondering. The characters come alive, in the retelling of past and present struggles, uncovering historical moments and modern day politics. Would recommend this read for an escape on a weekend morning.
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