Invisible Shackles-Anuja Arora

Book: Invisible Shackles

Author: Anuja Arora

Publisher: Jufic Books (Leadstart Publishing)

Indian Society has put a lot of emphasis on marriage and the need for marriages to last. Any relationship that is toxic, is advocated to be sorted out, rather than terminated and that two people, who want to be together, have to assess the impact it would have on their standing in the society before going ahead with it.

Invisible Shackles by Anuja Arora is the story of Naina Oberoi, a rich housewife, who is in an unhappy marriage and decides to take a run away to break away from her shackles of her marriage. Amrithum Raman is a Forest Officer, posted in Charikosia in Odisha but is dutiful to his marriage which is devoid of love and emotions. When Naina’s run takes her to Amrithum’s doorstep in Charikosia, an unprecedented romance starts blooming between the two, but their social obligations become the anchors holding them back. On top of it, Amrithum’s in-laws are a family with good connections in Coimbatore and they are willing to pay any price to save their face in the society.

Invisible Shackles by Anuja Arora is a story that takes up a myriad of issues that we have all seen around us. A love marriage that turned out to be a sham, a loveless marriage that is continuing just because divorce is a taboo in Indian context and most of it all, romance between unmarried consenting adults is seen to be as the work of the devil! The story deals with each of the topics very delicately yet presents the true side of it in an unabashed manner. The story telling is extremely nice and the plot points are very effective. The pace of the story is good, and the tempo rarely drops. I loved the climax and the part towards the end was exhilarating as well.

Talking about the lead protagonists, the story of Naina as well as Amrithum is revealed slowly as the story progresses and it adds a good flavor to the context of Shackles that Anuja has taken up. Each one of them was bound by a social tie and how they deal with it is the development of the character that we see. A special mention to the character of the Mother-in-Law of Amrithum, who surprisingly, comes out as a really rational and nice character towards the end and we see her shades during a couple of early chapters as well.

Overall, the book is an interesting take on the social rules and regulations and the need to revisit some outdated and archaic conventions and mindsets.

The story breaks away 4 links out of 5 in the chain.

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