Why "My Mother's love" is an audacious and thoughtful feat of the author

My experience with this book was quite a roller coaster ride, there were parts which I was in awe with, while there were parts as well where I was a bit disappointed.

"My Mother's Love" is the debut novel of Rishika Chopra, and through it, she tells a tale of the unconditional affection for peers, of love and betrayal, and of lust and infatuation. Being a highly well-devised thriller the book is, it curls around the plot like a huge serpent--slithering upon sensitive nuances of our hidden guilts and regrets, and promisingly keeping the readers hooked to its unpredictable twists and turns.

The story starts off with the astounding suicide of a famous, rich painter named Alicia Frankford. Although her abusive husband Paul and the police are detrimental in tagging it as a mere suicide owing to Alicia's poor mental health condition, Alicia's student and her intimate lover Cliff is convinced that her death has something more to it. Bereaved and pain-stricken, Cliff recollects the wonderful times he had spent with Alicia, during which the latter had been able to forget about her corroded relationship with Paul and about the grief she had been bearing since her childhood. Taking us through a flashback, the author then captures the budding friendship between Alicia and Cliff, how it had beautifully turned to pure love. More characters come to the scene--Alicia's childhood friend Trisha, Cliff's roommate Keith and his girlfriend Tiara. Progressing with Cliff's hunt for the truth behind Alicia's death, the author then discloses Alicia’s lost child—the one she had abandoned at a very tender age due to unimaginable circumstances. When Cliff thinks he has reached a dead end, a woman named Erica suddenly declares herself to be Alicia’s daughter. Is she really Alicia’s daughter? Or could it be that Alicia was hiding many more secrets as a mother than she was hiding as a faithful wife? Who is her lost child and what relation does he/she have to Alicia’s mysterious demise ?

Rishika Chopra’s storytelling prowess is much ahead of other contemporary new authors. The story glides forward quite smoothly, and one sub-plot keeps appearing after the other, pushing the story to a very multi-layered execution. The pace of the book is decent, the characters are well-planned and they all have their individual roles to play in the storyline. Owing to the many shades and shadows of the story’s backdrop, the narration is well balanced. Many of the revelations and disclosures happen through conversations, and the author tries to counter it with enough elaborative elements giving much insight into the minds of the characters. Interestingly, the plot twists and cliff-hangers became too melodramatic and forceful at times, and this over-indulgence makes the storyline a bit tangled. The conversations could have been brisker and more realistic, too add an extra flavour to that segment of the story. Towards the middle of the book, the plot loses its clarity, however, it is rectified as the book proceeds towards the climax. 

Rishika has tried to encompass certain bold elements into her story. The essence of concepts like extramarital affairs, infidelity, domestic abuse, adultery—has been weaved commendably into the storyline. She has tried to showcase the humane sides of criminals and law-breakers and this crowns the book with a modern and controversial outlook—making empathy and audacity scream out of the pages. The book deserves a hearty recommendation from my side. Quite an adult and mature read, this book definitely holds the capacity to connect to its readers.

➤Seems worthy of a read? Grab a copy here!

Disclaimer: This review is in lieu of a review copy.

 

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