Book Review – The Lost Paradise

Anjali Vaswani and Vikas Bansal’s debut book ‘The Lost Paradise’ was unexpectedly hard for me to put down before finishing the last page. When I started the book I had no clue how strong and intriguing this book could be, however, with a powerful social message ‘The Lost Paradise’ is indeed a fresh thriller cum love story I have read in recent time.

“The Lost Paradise” highlights the mental sickness of our society which is crude, cruel, real and spot on. It sends a direct heart touching message to the readers. The story is unique, though the characters portrayed in the book are unfortunately real in India and not just in the imagination of the author. Indian youth have been exposed to the vulnerability of the society and therefore this book has a reason to be read.

The story revolves around Riya whose friend Kamini is involved in a sex and drugs racket and wants to get out of the mess. Riya’s own aspiration to become a politician gets a momentum with the Kamini issue. She wants to help her friend by going to the roots of the problem. However, she is uncertain over whether to help her friend and expose the racket or concentrate on her studies and enjoy the attention of her handsome boyfriend Vivaan with whom she is planning to settle down. Eventually, her actions lead her to a huge political mess which threatens to ruin her life.

The Lost Paradise is a smooth story with a love and thriller plot running in parallel. While the thriller part tries to highlight the dirty politics and sex rackets and drug abuse in the society, the love story between two innocent hearts touches us. Pain of broken hearts described through poems is one of the key highlight of the book. The climax is well written.

There are few spelling mistakes and silly grammatical errors which could have been avoided if edited carefully. Some situations were overwritten and could have been described briefly. However, to taking up such complex subject for debut story, both the authors deserve huge applauds. Both authors have handled the story with maturity and grace. Kudos!

Details of “The Lost Paradise”:

• About the Author

About Sprightly Spirit

“I dare do all that may become a man. Who dares more is none”. And all, may be. It may be the vigor. Or the spirit. Or the courage to avoid being “politically correct” or bent. And, ban all averse with immaculate overture of graciously fathomable words firm in views. Subtle. Justifying the undying conscience. Values. Knowledge. And, dares to stay true. True to own. True to the world. And, to the words. With a dream in eyes it exists. In you. In me. In all. The sprite that never shies away. The spirit that never dies!