Facing hurdles to become winners
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The fifteen stories in Mosaic are portrayed in their variety; the wealthy socialite sharing her life between Colombo and London, the poor, peasant girl Palingu Menike from Habarana are just two of the contrasting lifestyles.
There are others. The young Kandyan Manike who finally decides to extricate herself from the all absorbing love of her family, as much as from the traditional family jewellery and marry the man considered utterly unsuitable by her family standards. There are others who have gone through the many vicissitudes of life, but they have the inner strength to overcome these; they are the examples of women who are ‘fine figures,’ as the writer says.
The writer certainly substantiates her views on women in these 15 stories. The stories are most readable, awash with details of each woman’s socio-economic background, her links with families, and at least one woman’s relationship with her husband, sweet and sour at times, but now gone and sorely missed.
“The women in my stories are mostly disadvantaged and unfairly treated by husbands or lovers, but they finally emerge winners. Woman’s resilience is remarkable, just as her love is complete with sacrifice, selflessness and total devotion,” says the writer.
The women in these stories are of different ages, a few are married, some are widowed, facing life’s storms with the companionship of other women. They have, the writer says, inner strength to overcome anxieties and emotional traumas. And here the writer affirms that it is not a fine figure that beautifies a woman, but fellow feeling and strength to overcome problems that makes a woman remarkable.
“Experience,” she says, “etches beauty on the face of woman.”
| Book facts | |
| MOSAIC – Stories of Women- by Nanda Pethiyagoda Reviewed by Vijita Fernando |