Nobody’s Child-Kanchana Banerjee

Book: Nobody’s Child

Author: Kanchana Banerjee

Publisher: Harper Collins India

Fame is something that extracts its own price, and in their quest for fame and money, a darker side of people emerges.

Nobody’s Child by Kanchana Banerjee is the story of a young woman, who is found on the streets of Mumbai, addled with drugs. As the story unfolds, she’s identified as Asavri Bhattacharya, the 2016 winner of the famous TV reality show Indian Koel. The problem, Asavri was supposed to have died in a car crash, soon after winning the show. As soon as the news start leaking, the press starts looking for answers, and questions start coming up. If the woman found on the streets of Mumbai is the real Asavri, who had died in the accident? If it was a staged accident, who was behind it, was it Tanya, the runner up, who was declared the winner after her death, or was it Rudra, Asavri’s estranged husband? Did Avniel, the film journalist who shot to fame after writing her biography after her death behind all the events that were transpiring, or had Kamini Devi, the glamorous MP who hatched a sinister plan? All this is revealed as you explore the story of Nobody’s Child.

Nobody’s Child is a story that explores the underbelly of the reality TV shows and the cost of fame. The plot of the book is racy, with twists strewn across the book. The story explores the concept of Stockholm Syndrome and how that can change a person to their core. Kanchana has taken up multiple sub plots in the story, be the basic human nature to be selfish, the hounding nature of the press and the grey area between strategy and vendetta in politics. The story has a captivating way of hooking the reader to the book and keeping him engaged. The one thing that stands out for me is that the protagonist of the book is Asavri, yet we hear her voice almost in the end, as we live her life through the eyes of others. The climax of the book was unexpected, and I loved the fact that even the minutest of details were tied up in the end.

Coming to the characters, the book rests on the way each of the character develops through the plot. The author has crafted characters which are quite unique yet finding them around you would not prove to be a futile exercise. Each of the characters has had a backstory that shows that they benefitted from Asavri’s death, as well as her reappearance. The character arc of Kamini from the bylanes of Varanasi to the power corridors of Maharashtra is amazing and was one of the ones that stood out for me. As a politician’s politician, she showed a great deal of cunningness. Coming to Avniel, this is a classic case of a boy who called wolf and it was just amazing to see how building up trust takes years and takes just one moment to break up. Other characters such as Dheeraj, Bhai, Monty etc. were great as well.

The title has a very subtle message as to the theme and the plotline of the book and as I turned over the last page, it dawned upon me. I’ll let the reader experience that for themselves.

Overall, a definite recommendation and the book scores a 4.88/5 for me.

Get a copy of the book here.