A review by mehvie
An Unrestored Woman by Shobha Rao

3.0

After reading the blurb of the book, I thought it was a novel set during time of the indo-pak partition and how it affected the protagonists life, but it wasn't . This book is a collection of short stories which are set during the india-pak partition. Couple of the stories are some what connected because of the characters otherwise none of the stories are connected. These stories are descriptive, in terms of letting readers imagine where the story is taking place. The central theme of these short stories are: being uprooted from the places they called home and how nothing can go back as it used to be. Different characters are shown during various time periods during and after the indo-pak partition.
I liked the history I learnt through the stories other than that I didn't like the book as much. Pain and struggle could be felt through the characters and their situations but sometimes I couldn't find the essence of the story. There were a couple short stories enjoyed and found the theme of being uprooted explained and shown. These were some of the stories I enjoyed:
- an unrestored woman
- Blindfold
- The lost ribbon
- Road to mirpur khas
- Kavitha and mustafa
- Curfew
At times I felt lost while reading , at times I wanted to get done with this book as it boring me. All in all, it was an alright book. The blurb of the book is misleading at first but after the last story I read the blurb again and it made sense then.