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A review by anusha_reads
The Book of Everlasting Things by Aanchal Malhotra
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
THE BOOK OF EVERLASTING THINGS, AANCHAL MALHOTRA
This book is historical fiction, a bildungsroman, with its epicentre as partition. This is Aanchal Malhotra’s third book, the other two being nonfiction on partition.
There is love, perfumes, calligraphy, and oodles of aroma. Vivid descriptions of smells emanate from many natural flowers, herbs, and spices. A major chunk of the book deals with perfume making, and the author has quoted many historical facts and anecdotes relating to perfumes, which I found very interesting.
Did you know that it takes four tons of roses to make one kilogram of Attar?
Did you know that Babur, besotted by roses, named his daughters: Gulchihra, Gulrukh, Gulbadan, and Gulrang?
Did you know that Ambergris is produced in the digestive system of the Sperm whale?
The book primarily showcases the impact of war and partition on commoners with a backdrop of a love story. Having watched movies and series and read a few books on partition, we know that the partition of 1947 impacted the common man significantly, rendering them homeless, separating them from families, and causing mass displacement. Millions were uproote, resulting in trauma, suffering, and loss of life. All this has been woven into the story beautifully.
Samir Vij and Firdaus, the main characters, the star-crossed lovers, are based in Lahore, part of India, then. Samir, a nose, is Hindu and Firdaus, a calligrapher is Muslim.
Two characters that I liked the most were Samir’s uncle Vivek and Firdaus’s father Altaf. On observing that Samir is a nose like himself, Vivek sees to it that Samir learns the art and skills required in making perfumes, like fragrance creation, sourcing the ingredients, bottling them, organizing etc. He teaches Sameer affectionately and patiently. Altaf is depicted as a father who is quite modern for that era. He lets his daughter learn the art of calligraphy and sends his daughter to college, which is scorned by his neighbours.
Upon reading this book, I felt transposed to that era. Aanchal has superbly and vividly described the era. She is a historian and the cofounder of the Museum of Material Memory. I got the opportunity to see her talk and got to meet her and get her book signed @emirateslitfest. She is brilliant.
"SOMETIMES, WHEN THE WHOLE WORLD SEEMS RUINED BEYOND RECOGNITION, EVEN THE FAINTEST GESTURE OF BEAUTY, LIKE THE WHIFF OF A FAMILIAR PERFUME CAN BRING A SENSE OF SOLACE."
This book is bound to leave a trail of fragrance, a sillage, in our minds!
This book is historical fiction, a bildungsroman, with its epicentre as partition. This is Aanchal Malhotra’s third book, the other two being nonfiction on partition.
There is love, perfumes, calligraphy, and oodles of aroma. Vivid descriptions of smells emanate from many natural flowers, herbs, and spices. A major chunk of the book deals with perfume making, and the author has quoted many historical facts and anecdotes relating to perfumes, which I found very interesting.
Did you know that it takes four tons of roses to make one kilogram of Attar?
Did you know that Babur, besotted by roses, named his daughters: Gulchihra, Gulrukh, Gulbadan, and Gulrang?
Did you know that Ambergris is produced in the digestive system of the Sperm whale?
The book primarily showcases the impact of war and partition on commoners with a backdrop of a love story. Having watched movies and series and read a few books on partition, we know that the partition of 1947 impacted the common man significantly, rendering them homeless, separating them from families, and causing mass displacement. Millions were uproote, resulting in trauma, suffering, and loss of life. All this has been woven into the story beautifully.
Samir Vij and Firdaus, the main characters, the star-crossed lovers, are based in Lahore, part of India, then. Samir, a nose, is Hindu and Firdaus, a calligrapher is Muslim.
Two characters that I liked the most were Samir’s uncle Vivek and Firdaus’s father Altaf. On observing that Samir is a nose like himself, Vivek sees to it that Samir learns the art and skills required in making perfumes, like fragrance creation, sourcing the ingredients, bottling them, organizing etc. He teaches Sameer affectionately and patiently. Altaf is depicted as a father who is quite modern for that era. He lets his daughter learn the art of calligraphy and sends his daughter to college, which is scorned by his neighbours.
Upon reading this book, I felt transposed to that era. Aanchal has superbly and vividly described the era. She is a historian and the cofounder of the Museum of Material Memory. I got the opportunity to see her talk and got to meet her and get her book signed @emirateslitfest. She is brilliant.
"SOMETIMES, WHEN THE WHOLE WORLD SEEMS RUINED BEYOND RECOGNITION, EVEN THE FAINTEST GESTURE OF BEAUTY, LIKE THE WHIFF OF A FAMILIAR PERFUME CAN BRING A SENSE OF SOLACE."
This book is bound to leave a trail of fragrance, a sillage, in our minds!