Indian Summer by Pratima Mitchell

Pratima has painted a beautiful picture of the hilly region of Daroga, the characterization of the two female protogonists, their lives and contradictions in this interesting novel "Indian Summer". The title had caught my attention that I immediately borrowed from my library. The storyline is simple - Sarla, the teen protogonist was really looking forward to her summer holidays but her plans were shattered when her mom had to travel on account of her work. So she decided to spend her holidays in India with her grandparents. She meets Bina, the granddaughter of her grandparent's caretakers. Although there was friction initially between Sarla and Bina owing to the different environment in which they were brought up, soon they become understanding friends and they began to discuss their problems and secrets. Having brought up in a foreign country, Sarla comes to terms with the way women were treated in India and was able to provide a helping hand to Bina on the different problems she had to deal with. After a few eventful incidents, their lives end in a happy note. Though not a gripping storyline, relating to one of the two characters should be easy.

The author has portrayed the individual behaviors of these two characters in simple words. She has written in a first person view from both the character's voices. So unless you read the chapter title, you might get a bit confused as to whose character you are reading about now. As this was the first time I'm reading a novel of this style of writing, it was a bit of strain.

"Indian Summer" is worth reading for its simple storyline and the portrayal of contradictory characters in Sarla and Bina.