Book Review of Under The Bakul Tree By Prasannakumary Raghavan
Book Review of Under The Bakul Tree – A Saga of Women’s Friendship and Empowerment
How important is friendship for you? Well, for me, it is one of the strongest support systems in my life. From school till now, I have been privileged to have the support of some good friends who influenced my life multiple times.
I am indeed grateful to them for being there for me. If you wish to explore the essence of friendship, then “Under The Bakul Tree” by Prasannakumary Raghavan will take you on a ride to the world of friends.
Premise: Under The Bakul Tree
“Under the Bakula Tree,” I can best describe as a story of tragedy, trauma, and friendship with a slice of romance. Sara is a victim of patriarchal traditions. Besides being a mother of two lovely girls, she is a window. Being in a bad marriage, forgets what love means. She is not allowed to fall in love again even when she realizes love is waving hands towards her for the second innings.
Then, a sisterhood angle in the story arrived, ready to challenge her. Viji, Sara, and Alina, now neighbors at Skyward Residential Complex in Kochi meet under the old bakula tree. Under the Bakula tree, Sara discovers the essence of falling in love again. Will she succeed in accepting the love again?
Character Development: Under The Bakul Tree
Despite being the first work author displayed great skill for efficient character development. Each character is uniquely crafted and connected with the invisible thread of friendship. Apart from the main characters, some minor side characters are there, which also got sketched perfectly. It added weight to the story in the right proportion.
Plot: Under The Bakul Tree
This book narrates the tale of the life struggles of women against social norms and certain caste restrictions, besides family enmity. The story revolves around the journey of three women who experienced various ups and downs in life before finding solace in their friendship of trust.
Their life stories were terrible, but never displayed the courage to share them with anyone. But finally, they shared beneath the old Bakula tree. How they supported and helped one of the three friends to start a new innings in life forms the rest part of the story.
Writing style: Under The Bakul Tree
Coming to the writing style, I will say that there is a need for another round of editing to erase the grammatical errors and to make reader-friendly use of language. I felt that there was the use of complicated vocabulary. That looks unnecessary to me, and I need to re-read some sections to understand what exactly it communicates. The simpler the language, the better will be the reader’s experience. Because of language, the flow was a little slow. Expanding the storyline will make the story more entertaining with a better ending.
Final Verdict: Under The Bakul Tree
Overall, the book is a quick good one-time read. It talks about social injustice toward women and how men dominate women even today. The story highlights the need and understanding of the meaning of women’s empowerment. Women’s friendship is the highlight here, which helped one of the 3 protagonists of the story to take control of her life against all odds. I will give it a rating of 3.5/5.
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