"A beautiful, dark, almost Gothic tale…" Missing, Presumed Dead in DB Post today.
A quick Q&A that was most fun. Thanks Priyanka Sinha Jha, Martin Noronha and Vasundhara Seli for this.
"I read the novel over this weekend, and it made me wonder about so many things- the terror and unspoken demons and fears so many lives are steeped in, the silence that lets the fears grow and grow, the helplessness that finally consumes many.
On Goodreads. Thanks R Ganesh.
"Without including revealing spoilers, let me say that this novel does not disappoint from the genre-busting plots that Kiran manages to weave. The blurbs and reviews already set the reader up to expect mystery surrounding a protagonist suffering from mental illness. The author has said that she is fascinated with spooky elements so this story has an undercurrent of that, too.
The significant thing about this novel is the writing. Any simple dialogue or thought by the characters is turned into a tantalising portent of dark happenings. Beautiful phrases abound, and encapsulate a sweeping commentary on the times we live. The fragility of well presented appearances and relationships is examined, almost mercilessly exposed for its more realistic dimensions, but the author manages to still create an empathy in the reader for the characters. None of the characters is without flaws but they are all believable, even if it is just a passerby who comes and disappears within a few lines of the story.
The build up to something disastrous about to happen is continuous, right from the first two chapters. As the apparently disconnected events begin to coalesce, the mental states of the characters unravels, and the plot unfolds but Kiran manages to inject enough twists to pile up the puzzles rather than gradually demystify the goings on for the reader.
At one point I felt there are not enough pages to have one grand illuminating finale accounting for everything with a level of satisfactory consistency and clarity. In a way my suspicion proved correct and though there is no other ending I would have probably liked more, there are enough elements left without explanation for an interesting sequel at some point in time.
What I most admired about Missing, Presumed Dead is that within a readable and racy story, Kiran Manral–based on research and interviews as mentioned in the acknowledgement–has presented the agonies of a person suffering from mental illness as well as the anguish that their near ones go through, without simplifying it to a one-sided narrative.
"…what if all one runs away from is the urge to be found?" An interview in the Red Elephant Foundation.
A lovely interview in the Red Elephant Foundation. Thanks Kirthi Jayakumar.
"As an author and as a writer on women's issues and feminism, what are your constant creative and thought processes like? Do you find yourself tending towards reacting, or is it more of responding, to things around you?
You've broken heteronormativity in your writing, presenting it like it is. What informs your thought process? As a writer, what were your key challenges in presenting a narrative on sexual orientation that isn't lived or your own, directly?