Short but Sweet

I have long been a fan of author Indu Sundaresan’s novels, particularly those fictionalizing the life of legendary Indian queen Mehrunissa. So when I stumbled upon her recent collection of short stories, I knew I had to take a look. I wasn’t disappointed. Here are the stats:
Title: In the Convent of Little Flowers
Author: Indu Sundaresan
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Publishing Date: 2009
My Start date: 6/20/10
My Finish date: 6/24/10

Sundaresan’s novels had a very exotic and semi-magical feel for me. While reading them I was easily transported away into a foreign world of intrigue and passion in those so called “days of yore.” Each scene seemed tinged with that soft glow we all know from great movies when they use that special glowing filter. So, naturally, I expected the same feeling in her shorter works. Not so, but not in a bad way. Sundaresan’s short stories are real. They feel so real that you think you can reach out and touch the characters because they seem to be right there in front of you. You can feel heat, you can smell the food, you can almost touch the fabrics. And because of this realism, these stories wrench at your very soul. All in the matter of about fifteen pages each.

In nine different short stories Sundaresan seeks to paint a vivid picture of modern Indian life. These stories are set in a current Indian society, rather than the setting of several centuries earlier that she depicts in her novels, and examine a variety of issues which face the modern people of India, ranging from poverty to bride burning and beyond. This is no Chicken Soup for the Soul collection of short stories, so don’t pick this up expecting a feel good, warm fuzzies session. Some of the stories are, in fact, rather shocking. But they are so incredibly well-written! And so very provocative. They will certainly have you thinking about things.

I read this at a particularly busy point in my summer and the fact that these were short stories actually helped a little bit. It was easier to break things down into manageable pieces. That being said, on a few occasions I was pressed for time and had to put the book down while in the middle of one of the stories and this was definitely not ideal. Due to the short nature of the stories, it was really difficult to put one down halfway through and then be able to pick it up again several hours or even a day later and really get back into the heart of the story. So if you are going to read this, which I recommend you do, make sure that you begin each story with enough time to see it through to the end. A fifteen page commitment really isn’t that tough, after all.

That's it for this one!
Keep Reading!
Sarah