ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anita Nair is an India-born novelist. Born in Kerala in 1966, Anita is a B.A. in English Language and Literature. She started her career in the field of advertising, but was always actively writing for magazines.
Nair’s preferred genres include short stories, poetry, essays, crime fiction, romance, and children’s literature.
Her most notable works include The Better Man, Ladies Coupe, Mistress, and Lessons in Forgetting. She has received numerous awards and accolades for her contributions to contemporary literature.
She resides in Bengaluru with her husband and son.
SYNOPSIS
Eating Wasps is a collection of ten stories woven into one.
Sreelakshmi is a successful writer. Having received the Kerala Sahitya Akademi award and been an accomplished zoology professor, she inexplicably commits suicide at thirty-five. Everyone seems to have their own theory. However, death fails to deliver the salvation she craves for as part of her mortal body is found tucked in the false cabinet of a closet by someone she cared for.
Fifty-two years later, Sreelakshmi is freed from her prison. She finds herself in a resort on the banks of river Nila. She has passed through the hands of nine other women and experienced their stories in the process.
Urvashi, Megha, Nazma, Rupa, Molly, Theresa, Brinda, Liliana, and Maya have their own stories of sexual and mental abuse, physical attacks, social prejudices, stalking, unfaithful husbands, extramarital affairs, depression, and online bullying. And so does Sreelakshmi.
WHAT WE LIKED ABOUT EATING WASPS
Eating Wasps is a brilliantly written novel. The characterization of both the protagonists, Sreelakshmi and Urvashi, is remarkable. Every subplot in the novel is emotional and thought-provoking.
Anita Nair has brought together the myriad issues that plague women across age groups, religions, and social classes. She has convincingly driven home the point that most victims are too ashamed and scared to share their pain, choosing to suffer in silence. No one can help them unless they muster the courage to speak up.
Nair also deserves credit for how seamlessly she has transitioned from one story to another. Despite being a collection of several unrelated stories, the book somehow feels like one unified tale.
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER ABOUT EATING WASPS
Despite its fascinating plot, most of the content of Eating Wasps is fairly clichéd.
The story hardly has any novelty about it. Most narratives go along rather predictable lines after the first couple of paragraphs. The glaring absence of stories with a happy ending doesn’t aid the reading experience, either.
QUOTES
When the train began to move and everyone settled down, she pulled the top part of the burkha away from her face. She heard the collective gasp of horror. Her melted face, the stretched-out skin of her neck, were not easy to look at.
The Indonesian has the first point and the next serve. It’s not the point. It’s the psychological advantage. Brinda feels an angry sob rise in her. Bitch! Bloody scheming bitch.
CONCLUSION
All things considered, Eating Wasps is nothing more and nothing less than a one-time read. Despite the foreseeable plots of most of its stories, the book is worth reading because it reminds women why they need to be kinder to themselves.
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