Review: Three Shades of Green

by Binay Srivastava

If emotionally charged stories portraying love, selfishness, betrayal, female foeticide, or even immortality of the soul have ever moved you to know what lies ahead, or the shape of things to come, here is a book that will tease your most fertile imagination. You could say it is a thematic production of feminine reactions to occurrences in the ordinary course of living. A truly unforgettable and un-put-down-able book from start to finish.

As we all know, the colour green represents life-force. 'Three Shades of Green' is a work of fiction carrying three true-to-life stories symbolizing life in different hues, contexts and textures. Each story is materially different from the other in its setting, relationships, emotions and outcomes. The characters, no hero or heroines but ordinary humans, face everyday situations in a way that shows human frailty - strong at one moment, and weak at the other.

The first story -Sandy and Pearl- involves two friends, both women facing different problems. They are ridiculed by family and society, face the troubles and chose a courageous path. This story heralds the inner strength of them. The idea to write originated when, in the words of the author, 'I heard the news of nearly twenty fetuses having been found in a well in a doctor's backyard'. The second story of the book - A Fine Line- in contrast to the first one is about the inability to harness inner strength at weaker moments of life of human nature. This is about the impulsiveness, wrong choices, and above all, betrayal, all in the name of love. The last story, Peetam, is a small suspense thriller filled with magic, miracles, and near personification of soul itself. The whole story revolves around a single line from Bhagavad-Gita, which describes the importance of a soul and its immortal nature.

This book is Manasa Rachapalli's debut work in fiction. Though fairly young in age, she has acquired a considerable experience in writing and copyediting. An active blogger, poet, and above all, a dancer, Manasa is currently engaged as a technical writer in one of the largest IT firms in the world.

Three Shades of Green
Format: Paperback
Author: Manasa Rachapalli
ISBN: 9788122310337
Page: 167
Price: INR 195
Publisher: Cedar books
Edition: 2008

Binay Srivastava