# Book Review: An Atlas of Love – The Rupa Romance Anthology

Can love be everlasting, timeless and magical as featured in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jaynege ? Sounds cliché , I know. Has love found you when you did not go looking for it? Have you tasted the bitterness of innocent love?

Not being a big fan of love stories, I had still picked up this book considering it a light read and had loads of faith in Anuja Chauhan’s judgement. I am quite happy, that I have been proved right and indeed it was an excellent read.

This book is a compilation of 16 love stories in myriad forms which gives a very refreshing perspective of love and celebrates romance. Edited by the bestselling author Anuja Chauhan, boldly explores the various facets of love from its purest form to its darkest depths.

Though most of the stories end in the lived-happily- mode, there are some which have striking twists and leave you thinking. The variety in the themes makes it an engaging read.

Aurodeep Nandi’s Phoenix Mills, which won the first prize in The Rupa Romance Contest 2013, takes you through a young man’s anguished quest for love. There are multiple instances where the protagonists, once bitten in love, refuse to surrender to the same old torments; in fact couple of times, they avenge themselves with panache.

I was floored away by Unseen Boundaries of Love by Debosmita Nandi. It did give me quite a kick and kept me wondering though out the day. The brutalities of unconventional love and the innocence of the same were quite stark.

I loved the space in time which you feel while reading through all these stories. As it is a compilation of stories written by writers from different states, you get to experience the nuances of the different cultures and how love is dealt in their frame of situations.

Pick it up as this this heart-warming collection of stories urges you to believe that love is eternal and forever.

Genre : Romance

Publisher : Rupa