A Wild Rose – Book Review

It was the mid of the year 2011. In USA, a bank dismissed a recruitment of an aspirant based on his ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ in his Facebook account. The aspirant ‘liked’ some Korean gory horror movies and ‘shared’ some psychedelic images. The Human Resource department took those to tag him as some sick or psycho and refused him as a fit candidate. The guy shared his experienced on the same platform and confessed that it was a made-up image of his. He was a shy and a romantic soul – his girlfriend claimed. Taking a 180 degree turn from this incident – Uzma Jafri’s debut novel placed facebook as a platform to share the real “what’s on your mind” status. Very innocent, isn’t it? And the novel itself is an innocent revelation of an intense love.

With a devastating marriage in her past and an honest friend – our wealthy heroine felt butterflies at the first sight and the plot revolves around the drama in course that follows. Loads of moments – suspicions – tears and intense passion follows that galore the novel brightly throughout.

The novel has a tragic overtone throughout. Be it the remorse for the hasty broken-marriage or the suspicion on her current crush or the unpleasant behavior of her boyfriend – the author maintained a continual infusion of the tragic moments. It helped to justify the climax that mounted up to a disturbing ending.

But there were no dearth of love or romance. The ‘butterflies in the stomach’ sensations are excellently depicted throughout. Be it the rush to check the FB status frequently or the hour-less wait for a return message or thinking hell-heaven for the apt reply – the moments takes you right to the year of first crush. The innocence of first

Uzma Jafri

love. The taste of first kiss. The feel of first sex. The author portrayed these with utmost care. Serenity. And feelings from the warmest nook of the heart.

But, the characterization in the novel feels half-baked. It never elaborates why a beautiful, famous and wealthy news anchor fell for a crush-at-first-sight after a overnight-broken marriage. It never opens up the character of Anshuman – his intentions or the reasons behind his cheating nature. And, this ends up the novel as a wonderfully directed episode of ‘Emotional Attyachaar’ featuring another debauchery for a single hour slot.

But the show stealer is the Urdu poetries that the leads used to share through Facebook or SMS. The writer’s passion for the Shayaris is evident. And, that takes the novel to a different height altogether. To the height of ethereal passion. Unbound love. Innocent trust. Priceless life!

Title: A Wild Rose: Love Blossoms Until the Thorns Prick
Author: Uzma Jafri
Publisher: Mahaveer Publishers
ISBN-13: 9789350880630
ISBN-10: 9350880636
Year of publication: 2013
Cover: Paperback
Pages: 264 Pages
MRP: Rs. 150

(Source: Moments Magazine)

• About the Author

About Sankha Ghosh

Sankha Ghosh was never born in that 'City of Joy', never was a banker, never watched a Godard, never loved Kafka, never fell for that Solitary Reaper, never danced on a friend’s wedding, never fought for human rights, never had a crush at college and never ever aspired to work on a novel! Never was he as simple as this! #He wishes