The Hidden Letters by Purba Chakraborty: a review

Author of a best-selling book, The Hidden Letters is Purba Chakraborty’s second book and with what I have just completed reading, I can very well say that this would be another best-seller. The cover of the book, for me didn’t compel me much but I must say that the cover (to a certain extent) does make readers go and read the blurb of the book to know more of the book.

According to the blurb- She is a successful author, a loving wife and the world’s best mom. Her doctor husband dotes on her, her teenage daughter idolizes her and her readers yearn for her writing. Shouldn’t all that respect and love make her happy? Yet, she is devoid of inner peace. In the wee hours of the night, her slumber is disturbed by horrifying nightmares. All her harmony is abducted and lost amidst the bunch of hidden letters kept in her cupboard, Those letters were written long back by her cousin, presently a patient at a mental asylum in Kolkata. Haunted by her inner demons and tired by the long-time secrecy, she decides to put end to her misery by surrendering to her husband and daughter, The Hidden Letters… Will she lose her husband’s love and daughter’s respect? Can she forgive herself for her own selfishness which rendered her cousin’s fate malignant?

The beginning scene of the book of the award ceremony where Anaya Chatterjee gets a literary award at her husband’s hometown was the most important catalyst which made me read this book in one go. And I must take this opportunity to say that I enjoyed this book thoroughly.

Though at one point (before starting the book) I felt that this book might be just another fictional romantic tale but once I started reading it, I felt that the book went more than expected. The characters were the best in their roles with my favorite being that of (of course) Anaya Chatterjee.

The life of Anaya Chatterjee, Dr. Nishith Chatterjee and Olivia Chatterjee looked so perfect from outside and was too but only if you delve much into their lives that you will know the turmoil they have gone through or are going through. I would like to congratulate the author for having framed the plot so well.

It has been the wonderful thinking of the author to have induced a story within a story, to pen an author from an authors’ pen. It has been written in such a way that there were parts where the readers might feel that there is ought to be a connection of the story with the authors’ life and only a part of it is fiction. I also liked the way the authoress have described the scenes of the story giving them a very lifelike feel making them very well connected to the storyline.

For the hitches, I would say that at places, the authoress has used varied time gaps which don’t match with the other fact giving it a very vague feeling. Apart from that, I also felt that a few places had loose ends which might disappoint a few sets of readers (I have no idea they were deliberate or not). All in all, a wonderful read which made a lone tear form its way through my eyes at the end. I would rate it 4.5 out of 5.