Joydev reviews One Girl Many Lives, by various authors. An exclusive for Different Truths.
Book: One Girl Many Lives
Author: Multiple
Publisher: Jimpify Publishing
Rating: 4/5
Escape! When was the last time you planned or had an escape to find peace, love, or even life? If you had one very recently, you may find them much relatable with at least one of the stories in the book ‘One Girl Many Lives’. Every one of us is running, some physically, some mentally. Some to save a life, some to escape from past memories, and some to get rid of that feeling, which keeps them nagging. Aren’t we?
The five stories, written by five different writers, spans from 1947’s life-saving escape in Indo-Pak borders to 2135’s escape from a suicidal space mission in Greenland. The mood and setting in each story keep changing. One thing that is common to all the stories, besides the theme, is that one cover picture. Designed by Jithin, who is also one of the writers, the photograph portrays a fading picture of a girl running away…
The five stories, written by five different writers, spans from 1947’s life-saving escape in Indo-Pak borders to 2135’s escape from a suicidal space mission in Greenland. The mood and setting in each story keep changing. One thing that is common to all the stories, besides the theme, is that one cover picture. Designed by Jithin, who is also one of the writers, the photograph portrays a fading picture of a girl running away…where? Nobody knows. Each story gives a distinct perspective as to the running girl’s destination, emotion, necessities, or even her very existence.
Another interesting thing about the book is that each story is written by all the writers collaboratively, one after another. One writer started it and passed it to another till each one of them had written a part of it. The whole process was coordinated by the editor, Abitha S. “There was a blog channel on my blog in 2014-15 called a fictional chain. Other blogger friends would write a story taking inspiration from a picture that I post, and the second person would add the second part and then continue. One day the idea of making a book this way hit me and I discussed with other active members of the blog. We thus shaped our first book, ‘Through the Mist’. This is our second collaborative book” said Jithin. Ajit, Anshu, Priya, and Shona are other writers who shaped the stories with their pen.
The first story, The Lone Flight, tells the story of a little girl from Lahore, whose entire family was killed in the riot. The traditional set up of rioting Lahore was skillfully scripted by creating scenes of shops being burnt and schools demarcating Hindu and Muslims.
The first story, The Lone Flight, tells the story of a little girl from Lahore, whose entire family was killed in the riot. The traditional set up of rioting Lahore was skillfully scripted by creating scenes of shops being burnt and schools demarcating Hindu and Muslims. Black July, the second story is a similar story of the escape of a Tamilian family from the anti-Tamil riot-hit islands of Sri Lanka. The little girl Kanmani and her family had to leave their house (in ashes) and move to Australia. Some more heart-wrenching things the girl had to suffer, including losing her father in the riot.
LOVE2K, the third story takes us to New York, where Amy Richards, among other bankers and financiers was quite worried about the Y2K bug. Finding love is never easy, realising it is even harder. Entwined in a similar situation, Amy realized her love for David only after reading the lines “I wanna run like this, with you” scribbled in the bottom part of the Photograph of the same little girl running away. The fourth story, The Runaway Princess is a crime thriller if you believe. Imagine dating someone who is carrying your death contract. Scary, right? In a similar situation was Celine, the daughter of the direct descendant of King Louis XIV, who went to India impersonating a common lady. Celine runs for her life throughout the story only to find something very devastating at the end. SPACES is the story that takes you to 2135AD, where Jamy thumbs up taking a suicidal mission to Space and Lyne, his wife persuades to give up the mission. Why? Must read the story!
Attributing the book to any particular genre would be wrong as the book has a pack of stories ranging from crime, thriller, sci-fi to romantics.
Attributing the book to any particular genre would be wrong as the book has a pack of stories ranging from crime, thriller, sci-fi to romantics. Published by Jimpify Publishers, it’s a perfect book for people of all ages and fans of relationship drama/mystery stories. Happy reading!
Photo sourced by the reviewer
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Thank you so much for this amazing review. It is great to know that you could feel a common thread of ‘escape’ throughout these stories. It is a nice interpretation of our stories. Thank you.