The Speaking Stone-Ratnadip Acharya

Book: The Speaking Stone

Author: Ratnadip Acharya

Publisher: Aksora Publications

 Each one of us loves to shop from the local flea markets because of the deals and most of it because of coming across some really interesting objects. Then there are some people who tend to obsess over a thing that they see and rest only once they find what they are looking for.

Meet Saikat, the male protagonist of The Speaking Stone by Ratnadip Acharya. The book opens with him being stone drunk at a bar in Mumbai from where he is escorted out after closing hours and he decides to spend the night in his car. In the morning, he takes a call to have breakfast at the famous Café Leopold in Colaba. While coming out of the café, he notices a person setting up shop at the causeway and is pulled towards him seeing a stone statue with him. Even though he did not know why, he felt  a connection to the statue and he bought it. The seller told him that it was called “The Speaking Stone”. On the other side of the country, Shuvashini Guha, a doctorate aspirant had her hopes cut short because her topic was rejected by a reputed historian and was asked to find a new topic and thus she trudges to the library and tries to look for something when she comes across an old book, “Stories beyond and after Rajmala”. Though she was shown the door as the library closed for the day, a thought began taking shape in her mind. Meanwhile, our protagonist was at his wits end about the statue and decided to find the seller to help him figure it out. His search led him to an old Parsi neighbourhood which finally have him some idea. Based on his, ne narrowed his search to Tripura and made up his mind to go there. Our female lead, Shuvashini also decided to take her research ahead and her path also led her to Tripura and as fate would have it, Saikat and Shuvashini were incidentally bound for the same destination. Their common ideas finally make them team up and a wonderful story of love, betrayal and treasure starts unravelling. From the city Museum to a far-flung mountain with rock carvings, The Speaking Stone then decodes a mystery that was shrouded from the people for a long time.

The Speaking Stone is a wonderfully constructed story with many minute details woven into the plot. The book initially moves as 3 parallel tracks which then coalesce into 2. The historical plot is also wonderfully crafted with each character having a parallel character in the present time. Throughout the plot, the author has dropped many hints, which in hindsight connect many plot points. He has taken a local folktale and created an amazing fictional account around it. It is a decently paced plot with emphasis as and when required. Nowhere does the attention of the reader gets diverted.

As for the characters, Ratnadip has taken great effort to give credible and interesting backstories to each of his characters. It makes them a lot believeable and their actions seem justified, be it any of the characters. The description of each character is quite vivid and it helps you paint a picture of them in your minds and then the rest becomes easier to comprehend.

The climax of the book is praiseworthy and it was not something that can be guessed earlier. The build up is great as well.

This historical thriller gets a 4.75/5 from me.

P.S. Look out for a surprise in the plot.

P.P.S. Read the Author’s warning in the beginning of the book!!!!