THE MIRROR KNOWS THE TRUTH AND OTHER STORIES

Category Literature & Fiction
Format PB
Imprint
Price 295

ISBN: 978-81-291-3452-3
Pages: 406 pages
Date: July 2014

ABOUT THIS BOOK

An eclectic collection, The Mirror Knows the Truth and Other Stories offers a kaleidoscopic range of human emotions, from love, longing and loneliness, to the discrimination faced by the minorities within society.
‘It Was My Day’ poignantly describes the marriage anniversary of a middle-aged woman, spent aching for a gesture of affection from her ever-busy husband; ‘The Pigeon Story’ chronicles the various discriminations and the general lack of empathy among people, as perceived by the birds; and, in the title story, a mirror faithfully records the goings-on in an affluent, upper-caste family which adopts Kalyani, a girl from a lower caste, and raises as a daughter.
Evocative, sensitive and nuanced, The Mirror Knows the Truth and Other Stories is a compelling exploration of the myriad complexities of the human psyche.

AUTHOR OF THE BOOK

A prolific writer, Kusum Ansal’s repertoire comprises novels, poems, short stories and travelogues. Her books have been translated into English, Punjabi, Bengali, Urdu, Greek, Russian and French. Her novel Ek Aur Panchvati was adapted into the film, Panchvati, by Basu Bhattacharya, for which she wrote the screenplay and dialogues. She has also contributed to television, the All India Radio and the Indian Progression Writers’ Theatre Association. An avid nature lover and a qualified Ikebana teacher, she enjoys flowers as a subject and has written several articles on it.
She has a Masters degree in Psychology from Aligarh Muslim University and a PhD in Hindi Literature from Punjab University. She organises a monthly literary meet, ‘Samvad’, for creative writers of all languages and has been actively involved with organisations working in the field of education and social services. She is the Director of Chiranjiv Bharti School and has been the recipient of several awards, including the ‘International Women Entrepreneurial Challenge Award’.