Rumours of Spring — Book Review
“Rumours of Spring” is the debut of Farah Bashir. I usually don’t read non fiction but I was excited about this one because it’s Farah’s first book and on top of that, the cover was very pretty!
Farah has written a scintillating account of her childhood as she navigated the conflicted streets of Kashmir. The book follows the timeline of the entire day after her grandmother passes away and the funeral has to be delayed because of curfew. In between the author has narrated the story of her childhood in Kashmir. How the violence was all around, and how it shaped the author’s life and the people who surrounded her, will make you shudder. Being a girl living in Kashmir during the 90s, the conflict and the streets were undoubtedly scarier for her. Every day that passed by was a hide-and-seek game with death. There’s pain, grief and trauma on every page. I just couldn’t hold back my tears at several points in the story.
Farah has written about the people she has lost to this madness of conflict. The narration teleports you to the narrow alleys of Srinagar during the 90s and makes you feel the turbulence in the air of those times through the eyes of a young girl.
Written with honest emotions, and with the vibe of a journalist — “Rumours of Spring” is a book you must definitely read this fall.
