My Review: One Amazing Thing

  
I am a huge fan of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's work.She is a masterful storyteller,her style of writing is unique,her characters beautifully etched and haunting.Yes all words absolutely proving my love of her work!So it was obvious that after reading her last book 'The Palace Of Illusions' I was eagerly looking forward to her next. 

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is an award-winning author and poet. Her themes include women, immigration, the South Asian experience, history, myth, magic and celebrating diversity.Her short stories, Arranged Marriage, won an American Book Award. She teaches Creative Writing at the University of Houston.

One Amazing Thing her new book brings together nine men and women who are trapped in the Indian Consulate office after being hit by an earthquake in America.Nine people of different ages,different backgrounds ,who would under normal circumstances not even interact with each other are thrown together in an extraordinary situation.You have Malathi and Mangalam who are visa officials ,Jiang a Chinese Indian woman and her grand daughter Lily,Cameron an ex-soldier who takes charge of the place after the earthquake hits ,Uma an Indian-American,Tariq a young American Muslim and an elderly white couple.How do they react in the circumstance while waiting to be rescued makes it a very interesting premise.

All of them are so tensed about the situation they are in ,with panic rising they end up fighting and coming to blows with each other. That's when Uma suggests that each one should share a story,one amazing thing from their life which made them believe that life, for all its pain, is miraculous.Though initially reluctant they all warm up to the idea and so the beautiful journey begins!

What makes it interesting and heart warming is that the nine people trapped in the office are not sure whether they would be rescued in time,they are not sure of survival but the stories fill them with hope.It fills up the empty silence that would exist, it keeps their mind off their fate at the same time makes them curious of each others past.

 I read straight through because this is the sort of book that pulls you along.That's the kind of writer and storyteller Divakaruni is.Only one word comes to my mind when I read this book ....unputdownable.