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The BookViral Review:
Exquisitely written with a raw intensity, Muhammad Ali Bandial’s ‘I Dream of Rain’ is a powerful exploration of time and circumstance, and the drivers which form and mould personality and relationships.
Right from the get-go, Bandial pulls his reader into the physical and emotively complicated world of Bunny, a ‘twenty-something’ young man living in a brutal world of have and have nots, cultural expectations, and psychological barriers. An introductory chapter of rarely seen immersive quality leads to an impeccably structured novel.
Richly crafted extended metaphor and well thought out sensory driven imagery create colour and tension as his word choices and ideas clack and crash against one another, resulting in an intense, palpable and sometimes suffocating atmosphere, which pulls you deeper and deeper into the desperate world of his protagonist. Bandial switches effortlessly between introspection and somatic reaction as Bunny struggles with facing reality and its impact on his carefully constructed existence.
Written across two timelines, ‘I Dream of Rain’ starkly illustrates how misunderstandings, hidden intentions and outside influence can impact on the closest and deepest of relationships, causing untold misery and erecting seemingly impenetrable barriers; but that these, in Bunny’s case with the help of the wonderfully fiery Dadi, can be broken down, and hearts can be melded back together.
Bandial’s narrative is well supported by character choices and the interaction between them, as he chronicles the shifts and changes of relationships over time, with his use of dialogue exceptionally strong, rounding out secondary and tertiary players with clarity and texture. Graphic and penetrating detail brings his characters into four-dimensional life, resulting in a well-rounded storyline.
Set within a backdrop of a South-Asian community, ‘I Dream of Rain’ effortlessly captures society, cultural practice, and western family dynamics and expectations, with a web of connection reaching out to bring this compelling story to a touching conclusion as Sharo, a family pet stork with a previously broken wing, finally takes to the air, signifying Bunny’s release from the self-inflicted pain of perceived betrayal.
An immensely enjoyable and riveting read, ‘I Dream of Rain’ is an unreservedly recommended five=star read.
Happenstance, serendipity and luck dominate as the lives of characters crash against one another like pinballs in Tom Evans’ All Is Not Well. A novel that perfectly captures the unscripted events and coincidences of real life, where you can do your utmost best, and it’s never quite good enough.
If you want to read a good horror novel about a child from hell which will keep you on tenterhooks from its nightmarish opening scene to its chilling last page then Grace Tainted Blood is definitely the read for you!
With its fascinating look at veterinary surgery, ‘The Bone Vet’ offers an accessible guide for both professionals and laymen seeking an understanding of the challenges and realities of animal skeletal and connective tissue issues and corrections.
Whilst the issues of prejudice and discrimination are multi-faceted and complicated beyond belief, a key moment for me was the day I picked up ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. Harper Lee implicitly drilled down the relative unfairness of human existence into my 12-year-old brain, creating a sense of outrage that has stayed with me throughout my life.
An enduring memory of my teenage self sneaking into my mother’s bedroom in search of Mills and Boon still brings a slight blush to my cheeks.
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