Stars from the Borderless Sea-Shalini Mullick

Book: Stars from the Borderless Sea
Author: Shalini Mullick
Publisher: Readomania

What is your take on the idea of soulmates?

Stars from the Borderless Sea by Shalini Mullick asks some fundamental questions such as What is true love? Who are soulmates? Can love be defined by the constructs of society and convention? Can an affair rescue a marriage? Can true love ever tear people apart? The book explores three separate stories about Two college mates who fall in love, only to be separated-their love stays steady, though they meet just twice in forty years, A close-knit family, shadows from the past, a lingering suspicion, and a relationship put to the test & An emotionally unavailable husband, a hurt wife; and an affair that redeems and transforms. The book is a story of three strong women, and their journeys, and love, as mature and strong as them. In these times of speed dating, hook-ups, and break-ups, Stars from the Borderless Sky, a collection of three riveting stories, takes an unconventional, honest, empathetic look at that most universal of human emotions—love.

The thing about love stories is that the idea of a romance usually sounds good when it is complete, requited, however Shalini’s book tells us three stories of love that remained just shy of the people being together, but somehow these are among the best stories I have come across. Told beautifully, the 3 stories explore love across time and boundaries, and while each one of them is a stand-alone story, there is a common thread that connects them. The storytelling is powerful and the way in which the stories unfold is quite interesting. Another thing I loved about the stories is the magic of nostalgia and the reminiscing of the days gone by, specially through the visual cues she uses such as newspapers, old letters etc. The climax of each of the stories is meticulously planned and is just the perfect end to the story she is telling.

The stories in the book exist because of the characters and each of the people who appear in the story are very minutely detailed and connecting them is quite easy. Shalini’s characters are drawn from real life, and the one thing I loved is how inanimate objects have been given a key role in the progression of the stories. So be it the letters, newspapers or a city, these are some critical characters that transition from the inanimate to being almost a crucial and critical part of the story, specially when we take a walk through some of the most iconic places in Connaught Place.

This is a book I would recommend to anyone who loves to read a well written love story and is not too much into happy endings, for this is a collection of stories that touch your heart. The book scores a 4.94/5 for me.

I was provided a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Get a copy of the book on Amazon India or your nearest bookstore.