#BookReview :: The Hidden Letters... by Purba Chakraborty

She is a successful author, a loving wife and the world's best mom. Her doctor husband dotes on her, her teenage daughter idolizes her and her readers yearn for her writing. Shouldn't all that respect and love make her happy? Yet, she is devoid of inner peace. In the wee hours of the night, her slumber is disturbed by horrifying nightmares. All her harmony is abducted and lost amidst the bunch of hidden letters kept in her cupboard. Those letters were written long back by her cousin,presently a patient at a mental asylum in Kolkata. Haunted by her inner demons and tired by the long-time secrecy, she decides to put end to her misery by surrendering to her husband and daughter, The Hidden Letters. . . Will she lose her husbands love and daughters respect? Can she forgive herself for her own selfishness which rendered her cousin's fate malignant? 



The Hidden Letters by Purba Chakraborty takes us on a journey that is Ananya’s life. A successful author whose fans crave for more, a loving wife to her husband and an idol for her young daughter – these are the main flavours of Ananya’s life. She takes on her responsibilities with all seriousness and then fulfills them to her best of abilities. One would take a look at the family and immediately nominate them as the perfect family and nominate Ananya as the complete and perfect woman. But she has a secret – secret of the hidden letters from a cousin who is presently holed up in a mental asylum. This secret keeps her up at nights, gives her nightmares and stops her from having the ‘perfect’ life. The question is, what will she do about it? Keep hidden letters a secret forever or finally confront the secret that the letters represent.

The first thing about this novel that caught my attention was its plot. A simple one yet an unique and less explored one. The plot and the narration compliments each other in a way that keeps the readers guessing the kind of ending that the plot would eventually offer. Even in quite a straightforward scenario, the author keeps certain cards in her hands that could and does change things. I really liked the way the author has handled the plot.

Next comes the characters and there are a handful of them. They are all believable and relatable. The author has given each character a role to play that is essential to the plot and each of them have some distinct quirks. Ananya, the protagonist, stands out among all of them though. She is a reflection of modern woman who is good at taking up responsibilities and then multi tasking - a woman with a successful career and a happy family life. She is also quite courageous as she stands up for what is right even when that could probably bring her whole life and her carefully constructive world down.

Finally the author delivers the exact amount of emotions through her words. She has finesse in her language that touches the reader’s heart. It would have been easy to over deal the amount of emotions in this novel but the author has managed to find the right balance. 

Also, I am not a person who puts much stock by a book’s cover. But I will admit that this cover attracted me immensely. The emotions that the book delivers is promised in the drawing of the woman on the cover with her many hues.