Book Review : 'A Grey Story (Read to Realize)' by Saumya Misra

‘A Grey Story : (Read to Realize)’ is a tale of Surya and her family's. The cover of the book contained a bloody hand, with a finger chopped off. Basically, starting from the time the Surya is an adolescent, we are introduced to the other family members. She has a rather laid back mother, who has her own things to do such as shopping, and lazing around. Her father is a busy man, but he always has a kind word for Surya. She has an elder sister and brother, and also a younger brother and sister to boot.

We are put through her adolescence, her teens through to her early 20s. Surya, being the middle child always gets caught in everything. If her elder siblings were up to something naughty or bad, she always was the scapegoat. Soon, her younger siblings were part of this anti-Surya group too. So, the wickedness continued. And her parents’ negligence too.

Her mother who was barely on her side, soon shifted to the other children’s side. Her father, though at first, was kind of on her side, soon shifted places too. Accidents and incident kept occurring. No sooner, does he recover from the fact that his son was killed in an ‘accident’, that he has to worry about his daughter, who is home soon, with threats of a divorce and an affair too.

The problem may seem like the entire family’s but Surya is always caught in the loophole. Her sister and brother-in-law also join in, the entire trouble making group.

Soon, the trouble seems to be lifting but there is a flirting accusation, thrown by her own sister. She says that it was Surya, who dared to flirt with her husband. Though, there is a person who continually meets with Surya’s sister and on one such meeting, which occurs rather oddly, Surya’s brother-in-law is in the house. Accusations, insinuations and words flow at this tone. And the family once again, is left mourning the death of Surya’s sister, her ‘friend’ and her husband.

Saumya Misra

As some time passes, but Surya is still the target. This time, from her brother and his friends. He is part of a gang, all of which are troubling Surya. Abuse and not just the vocal kind, comes troubling her. During the kite flying festival, there is another mishap.

The entire concept revolves around Surya and her family being against her. The bloody hand is a stark reminder of what is to happen. Though it remains a fairly predictable story, the point of the story was Surya and how she is neglected. She was abused and teased, in the start and then it moves on to more and more accusations. Does she survive the whole rigmarole? Will her life improve? What happened to the entire family and why? Will the mystery of how the accidents and incidents clear?

You can Buy the Book, right here.