Book Review #58: A Trunk Full of Sunshine

This book unlocks a trunkful of heart warming, tickling and emotional memories that the author has collected over a period of fourteen years, having been married to an army officer. She narrates her everyday tales filled with laughter, glee and myriad emotions. The stories will tickle your funny bone, warm the cockles of your heart, and at times touch an emotional chord inside you. The book is a light read which any person can relate to. This book does not look to glorify the armed forces nor is it a travelogue. It is yours and mine everyday stories. Armed forces families can be easily classified as the gypsies of modern India, moving from station to station, settling in one corner of the country for two to three years, before packing up again and moving to a new location. However, each station and house that they live in, leaves them with a rich trove of memories and experiences, which get packed with their trunks, once it’s time to move on.

MY THOUGHTS:
The book is a memoir of a Armed Forces personnel's wife. It is a collection of twenty-seven very short reflections by the author. Families of people serving in armed forces are like modern gypsies, moving from one place to another, carrying their lives in a trunk. Their experiences are very interesting, inspiring and worth sharing. Hence, the plot had great potential. But the style of narration and depicting incidents or events didn't do justice to the plot at all. Not much mature writing.

The writing was not engaging and seemed to be rotating around only a few things, like the author's previous residence at Jaipur (missing her prized garden to be specific), the author not liking her present place of posting and the bigheartedness of the Sigh regiment. At times, it also felt as if humour was forced down my throat.

The book is a light read and should not be read with much expectations.Also, the book falls in the "non-fiction" genre, but misprinted as "fiction" on the back cover.