You Beneath Your Skin-Damyanti Biswas

Book: You Beneath Your Skin

Author: Damyanti Biswas

Publisher: Simon & Schuster India

Can one moment change your entire life, or for that matter impact a lot of people around you?

You Beneath Your Skin is a story that covers a myriad of themes from murder to corruption to social vanity and what not. The book is set in New Delhi in the winter season, where we meet our first protagonist, Anjali Morgan who is a practicing psychiatrist and has to care for het autistic son while being a single mother. She has a clandestine affair with the Commissioner of Police, Jatin Bhatt and they are drawn to each other like a fly to honey, though they manage to keep it a secret. To add to it, Anjali rents the ancestral house of Jatin, which she shares with his sister, Maya. The plot thickens when a spate of crimes starts showing up on the radars of Delhi police, gruesome crime scenes with women brutally raped and then acid poured on their faces to erase their identity. Jatin takes up the case, though secretly and tries to uncover the truth. Meanwhile, Anjali has her own demons that she faces everyday and comes face to face with one when something happens that changes the lives of all the people-Anjali, Jatin, Maya, Nikhil and Jatin’s family.

Writing a review about You Beneath Your Skin is a very difficult task because of the intricately woven plot lines make it really hard to contain the plot points yet give a gist. Damyanti has put together a murder mystery, a thriller and a book with a social message all in one. The plot is extremely well written with moments that will make you literally shiver and moments that will compel you to turn the page. Each incident in the story has been intricately carved and the way in which clues are dropped through out the story are really commendable. Covering topics such as acid attacks, social taboo about outer beauty, autism etc. this book makes you think about what we consider “normal”. With multiple plot lines converging in the end, the climax of the book is something that will stun you to the core and the execution of the climax will make you tear your hair off.

Talking about the characters, Damyanti has given each of the characters a wonderful quirk that gels in beautifully with the plot. Be it Anjali’s obsession with her looks and make up or with Maya preferring to wear long sleeved clothes to hide her secrets, the book puts each of them in a situation where they question the societal norms that we blindly tend to follow. Jatin’s character of the tough top cop and his conformance to the common practices and his guilt are another example of what Damyanti has done to create such amazing characters.

A special mention to the details in which the author has gone into to make us connect to the book. The vivid description of some incidents is bound to give you goosebumps.

Also, all proceeds of this book go to the non-profits, Chhanv Foundation and Project WHY. 

Go buy the book now.

Its almost end of October and You Beneath Your Skin is the best book in this genre that I have read and for this and for making me understand some deep concepts, it has gone beneath my ranking box and taken out a 5-star rating.