Girl in white cotton by Avni Doshi

A mother daughter relationship is born and not made. But here comes a story that breaks everything we have known about it. Because here they are pitted against each other right from the beginning. The story is about Antara and her mother Tara. Antara is the narrator.

To make thinge worse, Antara also seems to battle with her mother's Alzheimer's . Her mother from the very beginning is portrayed as a self obsessed or a self involved species. Antara grows up almost like an unwanted child.

The story goes back and forth between their present and past. And neither of it was anywhere close to anything you can fathom or call normal.

The way her mother lived her life is a lot unconventional. A peek into the life of a person who lived in a world vastly distinct from people who always want their life to be like everybody else's. Since Antara grew up like that, she carries the urge to pursue everything that would be labeled as normal .

As their past unravels, it reveals the cracks of a ship that wasn't even built properly in the first place. Just like Antara, I would blame her mother. Blame her for just being her. Now the story doesn't give enough reasons as to understand why her mother has been the way she is. Or maybe not everybody's behaviour comes with a reason that could be associated with their past. I maybe too naive to speak much about it.

What I liked best is the writing. There is sharpness in details when it comes to describing even the life's most mundane activity.

I believe all of us have a Tara and Antara within us. The former who wants to break free when we feel suffocated. And then we have latter who is scared and wants to conform so that we belong. We crave to 'belong' so much, and that ,most of the times outweighs giving shape to our wild thoughts.

My expectations were high because it's a booker prize nomination. But to be honest, it didn't live up to it. For me a few parts of the story looked just made up and that prevented the story to unfold organically. Also from time to time ,rationality clashed with the behaviour of many characters in the book and it failed to evoke any real emotions.