BOOK REVIEW: THE TEMPLE BAR WOMAN

THE TEMPLE BAR WOMAN
  
                                       

AUTHOR: SUJATA PARASHAR


PUBLISHER: VISHWAKARMA PUBLICATIONS

GENRE: SOCIO-POLITICAL THRILLER

PUBLICATION DATE: 1st JANUARY, 2018

FORMAT: PAPERBACK


PAGES COUNT: 217

GOODREADS RATING: 3.79/5

MY RATING: 3/5

PLOTLINE:
Radha aka Radhika Kumari Chaudhary is a teacher in Eklavya Madhyamik Vidyalaya, a school that has been established by her father in their village Anhoni. One day, Radha decides to visit ‘Satrangi Mela’, a very popular fair in their village with her childhood friend Seema. While returning from the fair, Radha is kidnapped and brutally raped by Vikram Pratap Singh (a powerful politician’s son) and his two friends. After mercilessly gang-raping her, Vikram Pratap Singh left an unconscious and badly injured Radha in a brothel, ‘Temple Bar’, run by a woman named Habiba Bi.

Radha, after recovering from her injuries, decides to take revenge against her criminals. She hatches a plan and gets full support from Habiba Bi on her mission. She encounters Rakshit Singh, a young and upcoming politician of an opposition party in the brothel and manages to deceive him. With his help and her sharp brain, Radha entered the world of politics.

Now the question that arises here is what happened after that? Was Radha able to take her revenge? You need to read this book to find that out.

MY REVIEW:

The author, Sujata Parashar has dedicated her book 'The Temple 

Bar Women to all the fearless survivors of Sexual assault and 

rape' and 'prostitution'. She has tried to portray the condition of 

sex-workers, how they are ill-treated and the  indifference of 

society towards them.  


The writing style was simple and lucid with powerful dialogues, 

but, there were some grammatical errors that can be attributed to 

the editing mistakes. Although the story was very promising, it 

was quite predictable. The prologue basically gives away more 

than half of the story. While reading the novel, I felt like I was 

watching a Bollywood movie with a punch of love, loss, drama, 
 
betrayal, all that is present in a standard Bollywood commercial 

movie.

    
The author, although has tried to keep the plot engaging with 

thrills  and suspense, because of the predictability of the story, I 

lost my interest in the book. And I feel that the ending could have 

been better. It seems that the author was in a hurry to finish the 

book.


Regarding the characters in the story, I would say that no other 
   
character other Radha had any impact on me. Radha was 

portrayed as a strong, bold and fierce woman with which the 

readers will be able to connect themselves. Other than Radha, no 

other character was that well-developed. Also, I felt that the 

cover of the book does not have any connection with the plot.


The book, 'The Temple Bar Women' was an okay one time read 
for me. And, I would recommend the readers to read this book at least once because of the societal issues that the author has tried to put forward here.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sujata Parashar is a popular Indian novelist, short - story writer and poet. She has written seven books so far including a poetry series and a short - story collection.

Sujata holds a Master's degree in Human Rights. In 2016, she was presented the prestigious Karamaveer Chakra Award- instituted by iCongo (instituted with UN) conferred to individuals who bring about positive social impact in the lives of people and planet.

'The Temple Bar Women' is her fourth novel.


*I received a copy of the book from Writersmelon in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.*

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