Book Review — Mom Says You Need To Be Strong!
Mom Says You Need To Be Strong!: A Collection Of Short Stories Depicting Family Life by Aditi Gupta
Buy here:
Paperback: https://shorturl.at/yDG16
Kindle: https://shorturl.at/jpqz6
My take on the book:
Mom says you need to be strong! is a collection of fifteen short stories centered around female protagonists, each story covering important events and milestones in the life of a woman; from birth till death.
Eve teasing faced by teenagers, married woman handling a cheating husband and finding her life again beyond husband and kids, new born baby girl turning to be a real blessing for her father, a single mother overcoming loneliness and reinventing herself to invite new beginnings, a young girl hitting puberty and understanding what it is to transform into a woman.
A young mother struggling with post-partum depression and how it affected her married life and her elder son, a young girl handling her boyfriend’s abusive behavior, a young student falling in love with a handsome man she met daily at bus stop, a new joiner at work dealing with a creep who is a compulsive sexual offender, newly married daughter-in-law adjusting to her in-laws joint family.
A married woman who yearns for kids after suffering multiple miscarriages, girl who was victim of child marriage with three kids braving bigger tragedies, new mother who struggled to breastfeed her baby girl, a woman who was dealing with losing her partner of forty years and what really brings back happiness in her life, the matriarch of a family who held together her broken family till her last breath.
Each of the fifteen stories cover most important events in a woman’s life, and the stories are spread across the years starting from the 1950s till date adding the significance of those times to the story. Each story has a diary entry from the protagonist pouring their heart out to their most trusted confidante — the diary. Each story has the perfect length for a short story, has a conflict or problem which is sorted with a sensible solution and has a meaningful conclusion, which carries a good message.
After the first few stories, I realized the author intends to bring forth not just common everyday problems faced by women but also suggest solutions that will help resolve them in an easy and amicable manner. While the protagonist is the one faced with trouble in every story, I loved how the supporting characters are very understanding and mature.
I personally liked most of the stories however, few were shorter than the others and left me craving for more. My best pick of all is ‘More than one way’ as I know a close friend recently going through a similar situation that had been affecting her physical, mental health as well as her career, hence this particular story felt very personal.
Overall, this collection of short stories is unlike anything I read so far and is a very wholesome read. Highly recommended.
My rating:
4/5.
This review is part of the Blogchatter Book Review Program.
