The Loves Loved and The Lives Lived

The Loves Loved & The Lives Lived is a gutting account of Anant's coming to terms with Anshika's death and coming into his own as a man of honour. An honest and detailed account of grief over time, studded with moments of hope, beauty, and clear-eyed observations of many flavours of life suffuse this story of love, loss, growth, and man-woman relationship with a conscious frankness. The author challenges the status quo and yet upholds the sanctity of religion, spirituality, dignity, and Indian values with a progressive outlook. The book takes the measure of the complex bond of love that recovers and transmutes the past into something livable, with verve and honesty. The author's ability to convey Anshika's last words she did not love Anant anymore was actually an act of the truest love that leaves the most indelible impression. The Loves Loved & The Lives Lived is a good read for a very good reason: poignant, blisteringly honest, generously vulnerable, and the way Anant pulls himself out of the brink of despair and finds a way through the lifelong project of processing grief gives the book a piercing emotional clarity.

• Mishmi Rao