Some books quietly walk into your life and leave footprints on your soul. Two and a Half Story by Anagha Paranjape-Purohit is one such book.
It’s not just a tale, but a haunting exploration of what it means to be a woman carrying the weight of unlived dreams, forgotten roots, and the aching absence of answers. Through the deeply layered stories of three women ~ Nisha, Megha, and Noor , this novel gives voice to silences that many women are forced to swallow.
What happens to a woman when she brings life into the world, only to have it slip from her arms? How does one carry the ache of a child never held, or the silence that follows a choice no heart fully agrees with? This novel traces the tangled lives of three women each scarred by separation, absence, and unanswered questions. Some have been left behind.
The words flow like a memory ~ sometimes hazy, sometimes sharp and that's what makes it so raw. Each chapter opens a window into their haunted pasts, present struggles, and unspoken desires. Whether it's a mother abandoning her baby under a starless sky or a daughter trying to decode love from her mother’s silences, every moment feels painfully intimate.
These three women are connected by invisible threads of abandonment, longing, and identity. They confront the truths of their pasts. The novel unveils their personal battles with motherhood, memory, and self-worth and thus weaves an emotionally rich journey.
Here’s why this novel touched me deeply:
1. It captures how motherhood is not always nurturing~it can also wound.
2. Megha’s quiet strength reminded me of the women in my own family.
3. Noor’s search for her origins echoed the ache of not knowing where you truly belong.
4. The slum scene in “Abandonment” chilled me with its honesty.
5. The epilogue was like a soft ache ~lingering, poetic, profound.
6. The author didn’t try to offer neat solutions, just emotional truth.
This book is a silent rebellion. It doesn’t shout. It breathes, bleeds, and dares to simply be. And that, in itself, is powerful.