Love, it never dies. It never goes away, it never fades, so long as you hang on to it. Love can make you immortal”
----Gayle Forman
Janice Pariat, an award winning Indian writer, has penned an evocative and mesmerizing "fictional" biography through love called, The Nine-Chambered Heart that narrates the life story of a woman through nine characters, who has previously loved her or whom she has loved, either briefly or longwindedly in her life. The readers will only get to know this woman through the varied perspectives of the nine characters. And the one thing is clear from reading this book, that love never stays permanently in reality, but it lives on inside one's heart for as long as time goes on, and that is aptly captured by the author in this book.
Synopsis:
Profound, illuminating and deeply moving, this is the kaleidoscopic story of one woman, told by those whom she has loved or been loved by.
Nine characters recall their relationship with this same woman, their stories and memories breathing life into her, drawing us close, but stopping short of true intimacy as her own voice remains unspoken. Piecing together these slivers, it becomes hard to decide which version of her is real.
Set in familiar, nameless cities, moving between East and West, The Nine-Chambered Heart is a delicate, poignant and exquisitely written novel. A compendium of shifting perspectives that reveals how it is possible to exist intimately with another – yet, perhaps, not know them at all.
A journey of a young Indian woman from East to West swaying backwards and forwards for her education, for her brief marriage, for her affair and for her job, sadly all through out this intimate journey through love and life, the readers will never once get to contemplate the identity or the depth of her nature, as the readers will only get to contemplate her through her 9 lovers, who have either broken her heart or have come back to haunt her or she has loved them fiercely. All her love stories do not have any sort of happy ending, it eventually left both, her as well as her lover brokenhearted. One is her art teacher, one a dorm friend, one a married and celebrity writer, one a college student, another is also a writer and some more just like her, and each time the woman fell in love with these 9 characters either instantly through conversation or sometimes even just by a look or across a certain time frame.
Just from the very first page itself, this book arrested me and kept me glued to its very core till the turn of the last page. And what can I say, the unique voice of the national award winning writer not only made me visualize the emotional flow amongst the characters but also made me sentimental and touched my heart thoroughly. Not only that, even I too had a handful of lovers, and I was able to relate to the relationships easily, some of them were made me feel like reading about my own experiences with love and relationships. And yes I do agree, love is not forever with one person, love comes to our lives and touches us through many characters and through many ways, be it a teacher or even a pet animal or a stranger or a friend. And only through all those experiences with love, we learn to embrace and accept our fatal flaws.
The author has poured out her best emotions while penning this part biographical anthology about various relationships, which may or may not have a happy ending. Her writing style is exquisite and is laced with deep and powerful emotions that is one or another, is going to make an impact in the souls of its readers. The narrative is painted vividly with feelings and is kept close to reality, ensuring that the readers are able to relate to the stories. With a poetic prose and a fast pace, this book is an absolute unputdownable, the stories of which are not only addictive to read about but will also make the readers teary eyed at the end of each story.
The characters, other than the main character around whom the nine stories revolve, are extremely well developed through their inner voices, wishes, dreams and emotions, be it lust or sympathy or love or grief. All the nine characters, who impacted the life of the young woman reflect realism and honesty through their demeanor. The author has strikingly portrayed the voices of her nine characters, who describe the central character always with love and in first person narrative, that is bound to make the readers feel like reading someone's personal journal that is raw with emotions and sometimes very intimate.
I recommend this book highly to all of those who have got burnt by love at least once in their life time. Also this is one of the best books that I have read this year, books should be like this one, which speaks not only for itself but also for its readers in a personal way.
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From #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover comes a novel that explores life after tragedy and the enduring spirit of love. | Learn more
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Top reviews from other countries
Damini🌸
4 stars! 🌟
Reviewed in India on July 14, 2018
Damini🌸
Reviewed in India on July 14, 2018
This book is different in it's own way. No names are mentioned in the book, Yes, no name for women, men, cities, countries! None! Yes, we know about the women, her beauty, how she is descibed so beautifully in the book multiple times, but she has no voice, throughout. Sounds interesting? Yes, it was! The concept was really appealing. I enjoyed seeing the women at different phases of her life as descibed by another person. She plays different role, in each of their lives, of varying degree of importance. Yet you will form a connection with each one of them as the book moves forward. There is lot of romance and attraction in the book, throughout. The book is full of words, that melt your heart, again and again.
Coming to the story line, the book lacks one. There are multiple issues with the book. First one, the incidents being too repetitive in nature. Most if the stories followed the same path and I felt an emptiness on the whole, after finishing this book. The girl and the guy meet, some artistic description, they get physically attracted, get bored of each other and eventually move on with their lives. Second, the character of the women. The initial stories kind of connected me to her, greatly but as the book paced, I realized that she lacks commitment, repeat the same mistakes and is taking 'lust' for 'love' throughout the journey. She runs away from strong commitment throughout her life and finds solace in physical attraction. She just wants to be loved and not reciprocating the same , in turn.
The book is all about perspective. People fal for each other, they love, they breakup and they move on. It happens with everyone around. Most of the times we are aware of our side of the story. Guess what happens, when someone narrates you from their perspective. This book is all about this. The author poured her best emotions while writing the book, if not the characters, the words will stay with you, for quite a long time.
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Z D
A contemporary reading!
Reviewed in India on December 12, 2019
Z D
Reviewed in India on December 12, 2019
The Nine Chambered Heart by Janice Pariat is a story about a girl who was loved by nine men or who was in love with nine men she met at different point of time. 🙄 The girl is described by those nine men differently in nine different chapters according to their own perspectives. 😐 The poetic writing style at the very first page caught my attention. It is of course one of the good contemporary romances and the unique book I've read till date. 👍 No name is mentioned throughout the story; not of the female protagonist, nor of her lovers, nor of the places. 🤔 Only some geographical descriptions of the places are given.
The story is a bit cliche. The repetitive physical descriptions of the girl given by those nine men and her repetitive mistakes with each men she met is something I found very monotonous. 😣
What I learnt from this book is that people sometimes tend to show that they know you so much even when they know you very little or not at all. And in the end, you need to be yourself, because people will put judgements upon you no matter what and this shouldn't affect you.
I didn't find the book upto the mark, maybe because the story wasn't relatable or may be so many things are exaggerated.🙁
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I would recommend this book to those who want to read something new, something exceptional from the stereotypical writing; and to those whose favourite genre is romance; also to those who are so much into love. (Don't get me wrong please😂).
Would rate this book 3/5.
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Sakshi Chauhan
🌸🌸A Simple Beautiful book 🌸🌸
Reviewed in India on October 31, 2020
Sakshi Chauhan
Reviewed in India on October 31, 2020
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An incomplete book with complete sense. Not a story, it's a story of stories.
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First thing first, it is a beautiful light read and perfect as a February read, full of love.
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The idea of plot is so intrigued. The story moves with graceful pace.
The plot of the book is really amazing, but I think some rooms are left to get touched.
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I mean it's a very simple book with an ordinary story, may be that's the beauty of this book.
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