Chitra Banerjee is one of my
favorite authors. She is gifted for making the art of storytelling a magical
experience. To me, this quality of her books, bring back the sweet memories of
childhood where I would sit at my grandfather’s feet with a bunch of cousins
and an assortment of kids from the neighborhood and the servant quarters,
listening to him spinning a magical world of old Gujarati folktales. The
difference is, my grandfather’s stories were mostly from the male perspective
and most of Banerjee’s stories bring women to the forefront.
The Oleander Girl too is the
story of a young women and her journey to find her identity. Korobi, orphaned
at birth, is brought up in a traditional Bengali household by adoring
overprotective grandparents. She spends seventeen years sheltered in the
ancestral home 26 Tarak Prasad Roy Road which characterizes the old charms of
the beautiful city of Kolkata. On the other end of the spectrum is the life
style of the rich and famous portrayed by the party boy Rajat and his ex girlfriend,
Sonia. It doesn’t seem like they have anything in common and you begin to
wonder how these two opposite people can fall in love with each other. But the
seemingly simplistic young girl Korobi, is not only beautiful but also intelligent
and headstrong. It is her stubbornness to make peace with her past that propels
her into a journey across the world to find her father, half of her identity,
and puts herself and her loved ones in dangerous circumstances.
As relationships are plagued with
uncertainties, the undercurrents of racial divide and post terrorism tensions
not only create a vivid backdrop but give the story a thriller effect. Oleander girl becomes a personal journey
because of its well developed characters and the seamless flow of narrative
between these characters. There is the chauffeur who speaks nothing and hears
everything, the exuberant little sister Pia, the grandmother Sarojini, soon to
be mother in law Mrs. Bose and even the timid Seema who displays some spirit by
standing up to her husband, Mr. Mital the villain.
Families can be torn apart by secrets,
young and old can make errors in judgment, betrayal is harsh and the road to
true isn’t always smooth. The story captures your heart and is a definite page
turner. It does all this with the grace of ballerina.
The Oleander Girl totally lives
up to my expectations. You can’t help but fall in love with all the characters.
I was there with Korobi every step of the way, experiencing her highs and her
lows. The path to my uncle’s house is
lined with oleander plants. The leaves of these plants have an elastic quality
to them so when you join two of them together and snap them they make sound. As
a kid I used to play with these leaves and was always in trouble when an adult
caught me because of the danger of poisoning. The toxicity of the oleander
plant is aptly symbolized in the book.
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