The Shadow Of The Dark Soul by Sukhmani Gandhi

About The Author: Sukhmani Gandhi is pursuing her graduation in philosophy from Lady Shri Ram College for Women. She was previously published in ‘We are Not Alone’, an anthology published in association with Mood Indigo in 2014.Her views on the word 'Freedom' were a part of Unbound e-magazine in 2015. She also secured the third position in a competition organized by Rising Literia that reflected her views on the topic 'Freedom Mask' and were published in e-Fiction India in 2015.She is currently doing intern-ship as a columnist at bunkpages .More from her pen can be read on her blog ‘sukhmanigandhi.wordpress.com’

About The Book

The blurb says:

'The Shadow Of The Dark Soul' is the story of Zayesha who is a twenty something journalist working in Delhi. Sensitive and compassionate she is a league apart from her contemporaries, who believe in the mantra of manufacturing or milking news. Cornered by her boss, she fights against time to work on the Nirbhaya case in order to save her job. Synchronicity plays a crucial, life- altering role in her life when a series of events make her question herself. During this phase, Zayesha comes across The Shadow of The Dark Soul, thanks to her next door neighbor. Nothing stays the same afterwards as Zayesha is made to reassess everything. Will she manage to finish her report on the Nirbhaya case on time? How far will she go to step from armchair activism into the realities of life? Will she win in the end? The questions are many, but the answers lie within The Shadow of the Dark Soul, the maiden novel of Sukhmani Gandhi, a budding Delhi based writer.

Cover Page:

Dried rose over a green stem with blood spot in place of a leaf gives the book a mystery look.

What I Felt About the Book

"Weep because she died today. Celebrate because she woke us up"

I read this powerful quote somewhere on the day Delhi's brave heart Nirbhaya breathed her last breath. The book starts with author’s view on this incident and then takes over the storyline. Having read, heard and spoken so much about this, there is no scope of dis-interest for the subject - women safety.

Sukhmani Gandhi has conveyed her view point on ever debated topic of labelling the women who experienced different problems as 'Victims'. 

What I Liked About The Book:

1. Bold Writing - I really liked the author's fearless viewpoints made very clear.

2. Concept - The concept of letting the survivors live their life normally is much needed. 

What I Did Not like About The Book:

1. Spelling Mistakes and Typo Error - Spelling or grammatical mistakes and typo error are the biggest turn off's in any book. The rating could have gone up one complete start of they were avoided.

Below are some lines worth re-reading from the book:

Marriage is an easy substitute for rape?

One day humanity is going to vanish from our world

“If you get an opportunity to rape, would you do it?”

It is very important to know that rape is more the problem of the man. He is the one to be ostracised and not the woman.

The onus is on the men but the price is generally paid by the woman.

Born as a woman or a victim?

At the end I found 'The Shadow Of The Dark Soul' a thought provoking book and below lines from famous poem "On A Sunny Evening" suited just well on the message passed.

If in barbed wire things can bloom, why couldn't I? I will not die, I will not die.

The book can be brought from Amazon at - 

Note: PDF copy of the book was sent by the author for an honest review.