Name: Beneath The Surface
Author: Sherry Duggal
No. of Pages: 99
Genre: Fiction
Price: Rs. 125/-
Published in: 2014
The blurb of the book says:
Beneath the Surface is an exploration of a healing journey, taking you right into the world of the central character. The five elements tie everything together, giving way to imagery inspired by Chinese Medicine Philosophy.
As the protagonist expresses herself through stream of consciousness, emotions come up to the surface. She works through them and they become a part of her being, represented as blood flow.
Blood imagery highlights the mind body connection as characters come in and out of her life like figments of her imagination.
Underlying all of this is the central question What is joy?
She starts by focusing on the external, the physical manifesting as matter. Her mind then takes over.
As mind overcomes matter, emotions continue to push her forward in her learning journey where she finally lets go.
Mind and matter come together as she realizes that everything she needs is inside of her. Happiness comes from within ... and the process continues.
About the author:
Sherry Duggal is a naturopathic doctor who is now focusing on her creative side. She has written for prominent magazines such as Darpan Magazine and the Canadian Immigrant Magazine, a branch of the Toronto Star. Her other works are performance oriented. Sherry presented her comedy play Love Therapy at the Masala Mehndi Masti! Festival, the biggest South Asian Festival in North America. One of eight featured writers, her one woman act Epiphany was presented as part of the Pull Festival in Vancouver, B.C. She also presented her play Eve: A Balancing Act at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has also recently performed in New Delhi, India. Sherry was the lead in a feature film called Plus and has worked on a number of short films and music videos, while training at various acting studios in Vancouver, B.C. This is her first book, where she combines her passion of the written word with her knowledge of mind-body medicine.
MY THOUGHTS:
Cover: The cover is an work of art. To me it depicts a woman in a process of discovering herself in relation to the earth and the elements of nature.
Writing: The author narrates what the life of the protagonist and her feelings in the form of abstract poetry.
The protagonist goes through a abusive relationship, drug and sex abuse, depression and finally emerges out and sees the light. She meets a man who shows her the true meaning of life and love.
I enjoyed most parts of the book. But I also feel the poetic expressions are not consistently appealing. Nonetheless, it is a good piece of work by the debutant author.
I give "Beneath The Surface" 3 stars on a scale of 5.