False Ceilings  (English, Paperback, Sharma Amit)

A story set in the beautiful town of Dalhousie spanning across generations – must make for an interesting read I mused before picking it up. The cover and the title both were in contradiction with the blurb a bit. An old radio and an almirah isn’t exactly much to go on is it? This is exactly what attracted me to the book!

Plot

The story is set in Dalhousie and Delhi. It traces the lives of four generations of people from a family. The writer weaves history and culture into the story which s...

False Ceilings is the story of Shakuntala. Being the central character of the story she is carrying a burden of secret, which her uncle gifted her on the day of her wedding. The secret kept passing on from one generation to the other and managed to step in limelight after long 130 years by Shakuntala's grandson... Whats that secret..... forms the base of the story.

Expecting such a marvelous and well written novel from a débutante author is just unbelievable. Application of words, emotions,...

False Ceilings is a gripping tale of a dysfunctional family and their secret that passed on through generations.

Born in the lush mountains of Dalhousie in 1930, Shakuntala is a pampered child of a wealthy builder. On her wedding night, she is gifted a bundle covered in yellow cloth, to use wisely when the time is right. But then she keeps it as secret forever which is then passed on through generations. The story spans more than a century and when her great grandson accidentally discovers...

I loved the well developed and robust characterization in the book.

The people who walked the pages of False Ceilings were real to life human beings. They were good when happy; they were ugly when denied; they were mean when angry. They manipulated and were selfish. Yet, through it all, you never forgot the traumas they had undergone. And so you were able to empathize and understand why they did what they did.

The story, a family saga, spans between the pre-independence era in the 1920s to the futuristic tech-revolutionized era in the 2060s connecting numerous inter-linked incidents and characters. The main protagonist, Shakuntala, has seen it all from the freedom struggle, to the partition, to the world wars, to the 1984 riots. The fragility and vulnerability of human hearts and minds is brought out very well by Amit. The inheritance of mindless fears, insecurities and jealousies among generations...

Only a gifted story teller can take you through a journey spanning generations where the demons are of your own making. This is a family saga where the story negotiates love, hate, envy and disenchantment with amazing deftness.Written in simple, unpretentious and engaging prose, the story moves back and forth. Engaging read.

This was an excellent read.I have thoroughly enjoyed and the storyline kept flowing while i kept turning pages.One of the best novels.It took me to time travel through various events and it kept amazing me throughout the story line.I truly recommend if you are willing to submerge into excellent story.