Heartstrings and Harmonies-Manali Desai

Book: Heartstrings and Harmonies
Author: Manali Desai
Publisher: Self Published

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

Have songs inspired some important moments in your life?

Think of a time when a song made your life easy. Was it when you wanted to confess your love? Was it when you were at a low point in your life, and that song worked as a balm? Was it a song someone dedicated to you, or vice versa? Is there a song you associate to a person or a memory? Do you have a specific song set as a ringtone for the special people in your life, and a story behind doing so? For music lovers, there would hardly be a day that goes by without listening to their favorite tunes and melodies. They travel, they work, they workout, they cook, and do almost every activity imaginable, with their best friend, music, by their side. Heartstrings and Harmonies is a book for such souls, written by one such soul. Each tale in this collection is woven around a song. So how many such tales are we talking about? Since it’s a Valentine’s special book, that too released in a leap year (2024), that number is significant as well. Did you guess it yet? Yes, it’s 29.

The book is a collection of 29 interesting stories which are divided into 4 sections-Romance, Friendship and Hope and Revelation. Each story has been paired with a song that plays a crucial role in the storytelling. Manali’s writing in the book is quite fast paced and as a reader, you are compelled to keep turning the pages. Another aspect which I loved about the book was that the songs have been memtioned in the text in Hindi and then translated which gives a nice experience as you start humming the songs while reading, adding to the experience. The stories have are quite crisp and yet the message that she wants to send across is duly received, partly because of the audio-visual jugalbandi and partly because of the short yet expressive narrative. There are stories that would make you laugh and there are a few stories that would definitely wet your eyes with emotion. Manali’s twists at the end of each story is something I did not expect in a few of them, and to be honest, were the highlight in some of them.

The characters in the stories are very common people you might encounter in your lives (except for Aman, Anjali and Rahul) and that relatability plays a crucial role in the overall experience of living the stories as Manali tells them. The characters are not detailed out, presumably because of the shorter format, however you don’t feel the need of much descriptions as the plot itself suffices and you visualize someone you know into that story.

My favourite stories from the book are:

• The Rain Falls Pitter Patter
• Don’t Go Just Yet
• Oh, Something Strange is Happening
• O Mates, I’m a Wanderer

Overall, this is a book I would recommend to anyone who is skeptical of reading because of the long form and for aficionados of music and fine storytelling. The book scores a 4.94/5 for me.

Get a copy of the book on Amazon India

Also, if you want to enjoy the music with the reading, check out the Spotify Playlist here!