Hello Bookish Peeps!
Hope you guys are doing great. There are so many amazing books coming out in February that I can’t wait to read! If you have any recommendations, leave them in the comments down below 💜
The book that I am going to talk about today is a bit different than the books I usually read. Thanks to the author, Renuka Guru for sending me a copy of Anita: End of A Beginning Keep on reading to know what I thought about the book!
When Anita, a Scottish girl, is adopted by an Indian couple who have recently moved to Edinburgh, it seems that nothing can go wrong, not when her new home is so full of love. Her adopted family feel confident that Anita will be able to live a perfect Scottish life in an Indian household.
Yet even though Anita is able to experience the best of both worlds with her new family, being different isn’t always easy, and when she tries to fit in with those around her, everything begins to spin out of control.
BOOK DETAILS
Book Title: Anita–End of A Beginning
Author: Renuka Guru
Publisher: White Falcon Publishing
Publication Date: October 19 2019
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Genre: Realistic Fiction/ Coming of Age
Language: English
Content Warnings: Brief scenes of physical violence, emotional abuse and rape.
Anita: End of A Beginning by Renuka Guru highlights themes of adoption and cultural identity through the fictional character of Anita, a Scottish girl who is adopted by an Indian couple as they move to Edinburgh. It’s the coming of age story of Anita as she explores life and attempts to unite with her own identity.
As a child, Anita doesn’t quite understand the differences but as she grows up she starts to realise that even in the familiarity of her Indian family, she feels different. While she whole-heartedly participates in the Indian traditions and rituals and is fascinated by them, she still feels as if she is somehow excluded. But Rama and Gopalan are very accepting of Anita and believes that she can perfectly retain her Scottish identity in their Indian family. Managing to practice her own religion, Christianity, and following her family’s Hinduism, Anita deftly attains a sense of equilibrium in her childhood days.
As Anita steps into her teenage years, she faces a period of struggle between the two identities and is almost convinced that she needs to leave her family in order to find herself back. Anita: End of A Beginning also deals with a diverse range of themes such as teenage romance, parent-child dynamics, immigration, power struggles, abuse and societal norms other than cultural identity and adoption.
Narrating the story of Anita in the third person, Renuka Guru adopts an intelligible writing style that is precisely appropriate given Anita’s age. Following Anita on her journey of finding herself was soul-stirring for me. Seeing her encounters with all the difficult situations in life, I was amazed by Anita’s endurance.
Anita: End of A Beginning is without a doubt a character driven book and the plot only acts as a guide for Anita and it highlights all the themes that Guru set out to discuss in her book. This book is more of an emotive read rather than a book that you would pick for your leisure Sunday afternoon. While Anita cannot be called an extremely headstrong character because she does falter in the inconvenient situations, I think it makes her character even more believable because as us human beings, we do buckle under pressure but on top that imagine not knowing who you are.
Overall I loved reading about Anita and her story. If you’re looking for a short realistic fiction to read, you might want to check out Anita: End of A Beginning.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Renuka Guru is a writer and an illustrator. With an MA in English Literature, she taught Business English at Engineering and MBA colleges for eight years. She later moved to the UK, along with her husband and son, where she stayed for five years and started to write her debut novel, Anita: End of a Beginning. Born and raised in the beautiful hills of Nilgiris, she presently resides in Pune, India, with her husband and two sons. She is passionate about writing, particularly when it comes to themes that delve into human nature, and she focuses on what makes a person tick. Deeply rooted in the ancient Indian philosophy, she finds human nature and its variegation intriguing. Her debut novel is an expression of her own search into the realities of life.
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Signing off,
Sohinee Reads & Reviews 
Interesting plot indeed even the review has made me interested about what happens at the end with Anita,never read such story about adopting a child.
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Yes, this was such a different book to read. Hope you get to read it soon!
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