Title: Eating Wasps
Author: Anita Nair
Publisher: Context
Genre: Literary Fiction
Pages: 260
ISBN: 978-9387578722
Source: Flipkart Review Program
Rating: 5/5
Ghost and writers are more alike than you think.
We can be what you want us to be. We can
hear your thoughts even if you don't tell us. We can
read the silences and shape your stories as if they happen to us, and I was both: a ghost and a writer.
Eating Wasps, unusual and electrifying novel, set
in a small town, by the river Nila. Anita Nair, flickers between many characters,
along with protagonist, Shreelakshmi, thirty-five year old writer, who committed
suicide.
Anita Nair has woven a strong
character, despite of killing herself, It seemed, Shreelakshmi was an emotionally
balanced person, and a truly rebel, but life comes with its own unexpected disappointments.
One can fight with the world but loved ones. She felt cheated by her lover-husband,
that incident broke her and led her to take decision of ending her life.
Anita Nair writes sensitively. She
has great command on women’s inner world and complexities. In this book, Eating
Wasps, Every character wants to live on their own will, they don’t regret of
their desires, they don’t feel apologetic for their existence.
Besides the protagonist, Shreelakshmi,
there are nine other women who face oddly situations and deal with them. Here, I
have to mention, this is not a la-la-land book, you would surely observe
the dark corners of human society.
In the chapter, Age of fear, Anita
Nair writes about a baby girl, who is growing up in a environment, lack of love and attention,
how this drew her to heart-wrenching incident. When Nair, depicts fear of a sexually assaulted girl, Yes I felt disgust, I felt pain and that’s the power of her writing, it breaks something inside, like strike a hammer on ice.
I wish I could write more about plot, to be
honest that would kill the charm of reading prose, i.e. sentence by sentence. Who
placed an index finger into false back of cupboard? What is the story behind weird title ‘Eating Wasps’? Who is that frightened child, hiding in an
antique cupboard of private resort?
Basically, there are external and
internal struggles and Anita Nair, put her characters so brilliantly into unhappy situations, that makes story gripping. For instance, when Urvashi, questioning
on her life..
It had begun on her fifty-five birthday.
‘Just who am I Mahesh?’ Urvashi asked as they sat in their balcony for their
customary drink and catching up on the day chat. Mahesh frowned at his wife ‘what
a strange question’ He said, sipping his whisky.
Add to this, Megha, Liliana, Urvashi,
Brinda, Najma, Maya and others, deal with related issues, as child abuse,
stalking, family pressures. Not a single person seemed heroic, yet they all are powerful.
They feel every emotion, jealousy, desire, and longing for breathing space. You
connect with them immediately.
It is really superlative art, how Nair,
switching on the next character without losing the interest of reader. It is
worth to spend time, when you get clean sentences, clear perspective,
beautiful imagery, effortless writing, and unusual plot.
Don’t miss this beauty “Eating Wasps by Anita Nair”. Even I have decided to explore more work by author. For
this one, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
About the
Author
Anita Nair is the author of several
novels, including The Better Man, Mistress, Idris: Keeper of the
Light and Alphabet Soup for Lovers. She has also authored a
crime series featuring Inspector Gowda.
Anita’s other books include Malabar
Mind, a collection of poems, Goodnight & God Bless, a collection
of essays, and six books for children. She has written two plays and the
screenplay for the movie adaptation of her novel Lessons in
Forgetting, which was part of the Indian Panorama at IFFI 2012 and won the
National Film Award in 2013. Her books have been translated into thirty-one
languages around the world. She is also the founder of the creative writing and
mentorship programme, Anita’s Attic.