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The Forest of Enchantments by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Linyesha Bansal 

Genre: Mythological  

Chitra Banerjee Divakaurni's epic 'The Forest of Enchantments' is a modern retelling of Ramayana. It emphasizes on Sita's side of a story and delves into the spectrum of emotions she felt during her journey. Along with the one-sided narrative, she frequently emphasizes her husband, Lord Ram, who, in my opinion, reveals a lot about his personality. After reading the book, I would consider her the biggest devotee of Ram.  

The protagonist is portrayed as a devoted, considerate, and compassionate woman. But also, a woman of principles, and one that was a staunch supporter of equality. Sita transforms from a daughter, almost to someone with skyscraping serotine levels, to a warrior and finally, a rebel. She possessed such great traits and morals which is something that made her the ideal candidate for the position of Queen. Unfortunately, as the novel progresses, such is not the case; instead, the dream dies against her will. 

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Picture Credit - www.goodreads.com

We've all heard the story of King Ravan abducting Sita. The way this book was written, however, gives a newer and better perspective by focusing on Sita, unfolding more about the story. The way the story evolves, revealing new facets of Sita, was enthralling to say the least, and never failed to surprise me. The book not only depicted her pristine side, but the times she was dark, and spiteful as well. Of course, the novel depicts several wars in action as well as numerous warfare strategies, but Sita's rebellious nature was what stood out the most. Her sticking up for those she believed were oppressed was what motivated me the most. I fell in love with the book the instant I learned the author shaped Sita to be more than just Lord Ram's wife. The story had twists and turns in almost every chapter, and I can say that it never failed to impress me. Out of all the mythological books that I've ever read this one was the most engaging one and had always retained my attention. The only regret that I had was not getting enough time to read it all at once!  

One aspect of the work that I appreciated was how each character was depicted; each one was given a strong viewpoint. Along with conveying Sita's points of view and emotions about each occurrence, the author also provided the reader time to study diverse characters and grasp their feelings about the same. I thought the tale was a little complicated, but the manner it was written was certainly commendable. I vividly recall thinking how I would condemn the book if it ended happily. The reason for this is that I dislike books with overly cheerful endings because they make the plot seem implausible. But I had no idea I could doubt my own wishes as well. The ending was so unfortunate that it made me cry my heart out. Now aware of how much Sita went through – Being the reader, I was able to experience it myself, breaking me into a million pieces.  

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