Lemon Girl: An Honest Portrayal Of A Sensitive Issue

Lemon Girl by Jyoti Arora is a novel with a lot of heart. The book touches your heartstrings all the way from the first page to the last. The story is imbued with a distinct poetic spirit. In fact, the blurb of the book does not do any justice to its contents. This book is not a simple love story. The book is also not about the struggle of a young woman who is trying to find her voice. On the other hand, this book is about the brutal reality of what it is like to be a young girl. It subtly details the minute nuances of sexual abuses. It is about how the voices of young girls are silenced, even by their own parents. It is one of those books that not only expertly capture the pain of those girls, but also their spirit, strength of mind, fear and hope too. The psychology of those girls is the main point of focus in this book. Jyoti Arora deserves my all praises as she has adequately met the challenges of her tragic theme in this book. In this book, she rises to her fullest stature as a master of existential irony.

The book has a well-made story. This story is compact and neatly structured. Both the beginning and the end are of crucial importance in this book. While the beginning starts this tale beautifully, the climax closes the story satisfactorily. This story, by and large, is a museum of minor motifs. It has both a thematic weight and a richness of experience. The narration has been done brilliantly. The story has been told from the point of views of two lead characters. The advantage of this dual narrative is that it offers both variety and balance. At the same time, this split narrative also allows the readers to see the story from two different sides.  However, both the voices have not been given equal space and sometimes you feel that this is a book with one first narrator and irregular interjections from another. Overall, this method of using dual narratives works with the way the story is being told. The author knows how to play with words. There are certain scenes that somehow manage to be both beautiful and shocking at the same time. Scenes like these throw ample light on the talent of the author.

The book has been written with sincerity. To be frank, it is after a long time that I read a book with such an honest portrayal of sensitive issues discussed above. Stories like these needed to be told more frequently. The book not only has strikingly real characters, but also a number of strong statements. Both of these make this book an enlightening read. The cover of this book, on the contrary, does not do justice to this brilliantly written book at all. I have said it many times in the past and I am stating it once more. Book cover plays an important role in the success of any book and, therefore, more attention should be paid towards this vital aspect of book. Hopefully, the author will pay more attention towards this aspect in future.

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