The Fragile Thread of Hope by Pankaj Giri | A Book Review

The Fragile Thread of Hope by Pankaj Giri
#BookReview

The Fragile Thread of Hope by Pankaj Giri is an emotional, heart-wrenching tale that explores various facets of human emotions – love, loss, struggles, grief, loneliness and hope. It shows us that one must hang on to the fragile thread of hope despite all the hardships and struggles life throws at you. Essentially, it is the story of two grief-stricken people, Soham and Fiona and how they move on in life and finds solace in each other’s company. But, it is not as simple as that. I am quoting the blurb of the book to give you an idea of the plot.

In the autumn of 2012, destiny wreaks havoc on two unsuspecting people—Soham and Fiona.

Although his devastating past involving his brother still haunted him, Soham had established a promising career for himself in Bangalore.

After a difficult childhood, Fiona's fortunes had finally taken a turn for the better. She had married her beloved, and her life was as perfect as she had ever imagined it to be.

But when tragedy strikes them yet again, their fundamentally fragile lives threaten to fall apart.

Can Fiona and Soham overcome their grief?

Will the overwhelming pain destroy their lives?

Seasoned with the flavours of exotic Nepalese traditions and set in the picturesque Indian hill station, Gangtok, The Fragile Thread of Hope explores the themes of spirituality, faith, alcoholism, love, and guilt while navigating the complex maze of family relationships.

Inspirational and heart-wrenchingly intimate, it urges you to wonder—does hope stand a chance in this travesty called life?

It took me two months to read the book. But, when I finished reading it, all the time I had spent reading it, seemed worth it. The Fragile Thread of Hope by Pankaj Giri is an emotionally draining book – a few pages of the book and I felt saturated and I could not read another page without giving a proper break. This is the kind of story that seeps into your being while you read it and you find yourself in the shoes of the characters. When tragedy strikes them, you can relate to their pain and when they are happy, you feel relieved. That is what happened to me while I was reading the book and that’s the only reason I read it at my own pace. It was not a gripping page-turner for me. Instead, it was a slow, thought-provoking read – one that explores the gamut of human relationships at a deeper level and leaves you wiser. It made me feel fortunate and very grateful for my life.

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If I were to summarise the story, the plot might look linear, but the author has done a good job at filling it with all the necessary details so that it comes together beautifully. The most beautiful thing about the book is the writing. It is lyrical and poetic and paints a vivid picture of the settings in the book. But, at times I did feel that the author has gone a little overboard with it – in some instances, there are details of things that don’t really add much to the story and at times the use of metaphors seems overdone.

The characters are well sketched – Fiona and Soham are the main protagonists in the story and the focus in on them most of the time. However, there are many others who have their chance to make a mark on the readers – Fiona’s Mom, Joseph, Soham’s parents, his Dada – each of them have their own space in the story without being overshadowed by the main characters. Personally, I found Fiona’s character more believable than Soham’s. Her struggles, her grief, her apprehensions and fears and how she deals with them seemed more real and relatable.

The author has also done a great job in inserting the local settings of Gangtok seamlessly into the story – the climate, the snow, the rains, snaking roads and narrow alleys. Since I have been to Gangtok; I could very vividly imagine the breathtaking and scenic settings in the story.

Now the one thing that annoyed me about the book when I started reading it was the timeline. In one chapter I was reading about something that happened in 1981 and then we moved fast forward to 1997 and so on. It actually affected the flow of the story for me. So, after a while, I just labelled the chapters with ‘past’ and ‘present’ in my mind and didn’t place much value on what year it was and that actually worked for me.

For a debut author, I think the work is commendable, so much better than the done-to-death types engineering college love stories that sell as best sellers today. Anyone who loves to read tragic love stories, like those authored by Nicholas Sparks, will enjoy it for sure.

If you want to know more about the author, do visit his website here

You can buy the book on Amazon from the link here and if you have Kindle unlimited subscription, you can read it for free.

I received a free copy from the author in lieu of an honest review.

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