Book : The Speaking Stone
Author : Ratnadip Acharya
Blurb : Mumbai, December 2016: A young man found an ancient-looking piece of stone with strange images and Sanskrit inscriptions. A quest to know the origin of the stone brought him to the distant part of the country. Chandannagar, December 2016: A young vivacious historian woman read an old book on a century-old secret story about a little known part of the country. Her curiosity got the better of her as the book disappeared mysteriously before she could complete it. She reached a sleepy quaint state of the country to satiate her curiosity. Eventually they both met and their search began from the city museum to a far-flung rock mountain which revealed a century-old story of a seductive danseuse, her enigmatic lover, a string of her admirers, a painter with a photographic memory, a bird that could speak in many voices, a benevolent king and a gruesome conspiracy. And the most important clue to decode the final secret was with the missing part of The Speaking Stone But in the process of unearthing old secrets their lives were also in danger… To know more read… The Speaking Stone
Review:
When I first saw the cover and the blurb, I had no idea what was stored for me in this book. To begin with, the cover is so perfectly selected along with the title of the book. It matches completely with the story and location depicted in this book.
This is one of my favourite reads recently. I loved it storyline, concept, narration and almost all the thing. The story is about the adventure Saikat and Shuvashini go through once they find the speaking stone. Based in two times, present and 1900’s this story is about the finding the missing pieces of the stone.
I really loved how author has narrated this story. It felt so real. The mashup of present and past, reality and fiction, truth and imagination was done so well, I could hardly make any difference. This book has given me a life goal to visit the beautiful places in the state of Meghalaya and Tripura.
As a debut novel, author has written this book very well. If you love historical fiction or books like Krishna Key, then this book should surely be your next pick.