Intriguing account of India’s Independence and Partion

This book gives an insight to the freedom

Excerpts from the book:

IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WERE TWO NATIONS. ONE WAS A vast, mighty and magnificent empire, brilliantly organized and culturally unified, which dominated a massive swathe of the earth. The other was an undeveloped, semi-feudal realm, riven by religious factionalism and barely able to feed its illiterate, diseased and stinking masses. The first nation was India. The second was England.” 
― Alex von Tunzelmann, Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire

Whatever may be said about Mountbatten’s tactics or the machinations of Patel, their achievement remains remarkable. Between them, and in less than a year, it may be argued that these two men achieved a larger India, more closely integrated, than had 90 years of the British raj, 180 years of the Mughal Empire, or 130 years of Asoka and the Maurya rulers.” 
― Alex von Tunzelmann, Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire

The Wife is the story of the long and stormy marriage between a world-famous novelist, Joe Castleman, and his wife Joan, and the secret they’ve kept for decades. The novel opens just as Joe is about to receive a prestigious international award, The Helsinki Prize, to honor his career as one of America’s preeminent novelists. Joan, who has spent forty years subjugating her own literary talents to fan the flames of his career, finally decides to stop.

Important and ambitious, The Wife is a sharp-eyed and compulsively readable story about a woman forced to confront the sacrifices she’s made in order to achieve the life she thought she wanted. “A rollicking, perfectly pitched triumph…Wolitzer’s talent for comedy of manners reaches a heady high” (Los Angeles Times), in this wise and candid look at the choices all men and women make—in marriage, work, and life.

This book depicts the troubled conditions in Zambia. Corruption at its helm. Child abuse due to superstitious believe that AIDS can be cured by a child still exists. There is lack of medical facilities. Rich and powerful go to full lengths to hamper the judicial system. But also due to the sheer dedication of certain honest officers and judges things are beginning to change.

An accomplished young human rights lawyer, Zoe Fleming has made a life for herself in Zambia, far from her estranged father—a business mogul with presidential aspirations—and the devastating betrayals of her past.

When a girl with Down syndrome is sexually assaulted in a Lusaka slum, Zoe demands justice. Determined to see the case through, she joins Zambian police officer Joseph Zabuta in investigating the rape. Piecing together clues from the victim’s past, they discover a violent connection between the girl— Kuyeya—and a powerful Zambian family that will stop at nothing to bury the truth.

As Zoe and Joseph are drawn deeper into the complex web of characters behind this sinister crime, they forge a bond of friendship that slowly transforms into love. Thwarted at every turn, they find themselves caught in a great clash between the forces of justice and power. To vindicate Kuyeya and build a future with Joseph, Zoe must risk her life and her heart and confront the past she thought she left behind.

If you are interested in historical fiction, this book is for you. I am thoroughly enjoying this book. Worth reading it.

The stunning, massively bestselling story of Napoleon’s first fiancé

First published in 1953, this riveting true-life tale comes to life in diary form, giving readers an inside glimpse at the young Napoleon and his family. De’siree’ is enchanted by the young officer, and he asks her to marry him. But he must leave for Paris, where he meets his eventual wife Josephine. A heartbroken De’siree’ is unsure she’ll ever find anyone again. A love story, but so much more, De’siree’ is the tale of a simple merchant’s daughter who ends up with a kind of royalty she never expected: an unforgettable story just waiting to be reborn.

You can purchase this at your local bookstore, library or at Amazon.in, Amazon.com

Gone Girl is a novel written by author Gillian Flynn. It is written as a contemporary thriller novel and is first published in June 2012. The novel’s core mystery stems from an uncertainty about the protagonist, Nick Dunne. Whether Nick killed his wife, Amy Dunne, is the suspense the novel is built up on. The novel is well received throughout the United States and other English-speaking nations.

Gone Girl centers its story about Nick and Amy Dunne’s strained marriage relationship. Nick used to work as a journalist, but loses his job. With his broke financial status, Nick decides to relocate from New York City to his smaller home town, North Carthage. In an attempt of recovering from his financial deprivations, Nick opens a bar using the money from his wife. Nick runs the bar along with his twin sister Margo, providing a decent living for his family. But, as they days go by, his marriage with Amy is falling apart slowly. Amy resents her new life.

On a summer morning in Missouri, when Nick and Amy are celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary along with their relatives and acquaintances, Amy goes missing. Police’s eyes turn towards Nick as an act of suspicion, since Nick used Amy’s money for his business and their relationship is strained. As the police delve into the investigation, different shades of stories come out from Nick’s and Amy’s sides. The suspense of the book is carried until the actual information is demystified. The edition is published in paperback, on 8th November, 2012.

In several interviews, Flynn has said that she was interested in exploring the psychology and dynamics of a long-term relationship. In portraying her principal characters who are out-of-work writers, she made use of her own experience being laid off from her job as a writer for Entertainment Weekly.

Critics in the United States positively received and reviewed the novel. Reviewers praised the novel’s use of unreliable narration, plot twists, and suspense.

A film adaptation, directed by David Fincher and written by Flynn, with Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike starring, was released on October 3, 2014. The film was met with both commercial success and widespread critical acclaim.

Gone Girl available on amazon