Book Review: In Borrowed Light by Barbara and Stephanie Keating

The novel features stories of three families, Hannah Olsen and her husband Lars own Langani farm, so they are at the center of the story. Else, these three families are closely tied and try to live together amid the turbulent times of independent Kenya, where the black natives do not regard white people part of their country. All three stories run differently, with each entwined in its own troubles and secrets buried deep down in their hearts rarely surfacing to acknowledge each other.

Off the main story, Suniva and James’ teenage love story is quite captivating. Suniva is a white girl and James a black native of Kenya. James family history keeps disturbing Hannah Olsen, mother of Suniva. Therefore, she tries all her best tactics to part them but fails in the end. In the end it is revealed why James’ father killed Piet, the brother of Hannah Olsen.

On the other hand, Sarah a wildlife photographer, with some dull past, is married to Rabindrah Singh, who tries to cover stories like James Bond but dies because of his daring endeavors which exposed the Kenya’s biggest poaching racket.

Next, Camila Broughton Smith is into modeling and designing career. But she gives up all to marry a stolid guy, Anthony Chapman, and settles down in Kenya. The families keep meeting and traveling and try to solace each other like good old school friends. The story has no order of events; it is more of like a personal diary of three different people.

Suniva and James are impressive with other children in the story. The writers have worked impressively to bring alive the terrifying legacy of this African country, Kenya - once a British colony. How the after effects of colonization can add sorrows to people’s lives is very much evident in this book.

Comments

Book Review: The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond

Among all Ruskin Bond books, The Blue Umbrella has, so far, gathered immense applaud from readers and critics alike. This is a short novel, but the kind of moral lessons it teaches to us are simply overwhelming. This is a story of Binya, a poor little girl living with her mother and an elder brother, Bijju, in a small hilly village of Garhwal. One day while herding her two cows back home, she stumbles upon some city people enjoying the picnic in the valley. She is enthralled to see them well-groomed and rich. She craves to be one like them and among many other things of their, a blue frilly umbrella catches her attention. She begins craving for it. On the other hand, the city people get attracted by her innocent beauty and the pendant in her neck. The pendant consists of leopard’s claw – which is considered a mascot widely in the hills. Binya trades her pendant off with the blue umbrella. The blue umbrella is so much beautiful that soon it becomes a topic of conversatio...

Poem Summary: Where The Mind Is Without Fear by Rabindranath Tagore

Poem by Rabindranath Tagore: Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high Where knowledge is free Where the world has not been broken up into fragments By narrow domestic walls Where words come out from the depth of truth Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit Where the mind is led forward by thee Into ever-widening thought and action Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. Short Summary: This poem is written by Rabindranath Tagore during pre-independence days, when India was a colony of the British. The underlying theme of the poem is absolute freedom; the poet wants the citizens of his country to be living in a free state. According to the poem, we see that the poet is expressing his views there should be a country, like where people live without any sort of fear and with pure dignity…they should ...

Character Sketch of Binya from ‘The Blue Umbrella’ by Ruskin Bond

The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond is a popular children’s story. It features Binya as the main character, though there are other important characters as well, but the story revolves around Binya and her little beautiful umbrella. The story is widely popular among children, thus it has also been included in the schools’ syllabus all across the country. Since it is often taught in the school, thus the character sketch of Binya is often demanded by students from year to year. Character Sketch of Binya from The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond Binya is the main character of the novel ‘The Blue Umbrella’ by Ruskin Bond. Her full name is Binyadevi. As in the hills or anywhere in India it is a kind of trend to call children with their short nicknames. Binya’s elder brother’s name is Bijju, whereas his real name is Vijay. Binya aged eleven is a hilly girl. She lives with her small family in the hills of Garhwal. Her father died when she was two years of age. For sustenance, the...

Kevein Books and Reviews

Search This Blog