Review: The Fragile Thread of Hope by Pankaj Giri

Hi Munchworms!

Last year – that sounds bad, doesn’t it? – the author of this novel, Pankaj Giri, contacted me to ask whether I was interested in reading and reviewing his novel, The Fragile Thread of Hope.

It sounded like something entirely out of my usual genres, however still succeeded at making me curious about the story. Reading the blurb had me accepting pretty much immediately.

Sue me for taking this long to actually read it… I’m so sorry!

A gripping emotional inspirational fiction about love, loss, and finding hope in the darkest of times.

In the autumn of 2012, destiny wreaks havoc on two unsuspecting people—Soham and Fiona.

Although his devastating past involving his brother still haunted him, Soham had established a promising career for himself in Bangalore.

After a difficult childhood, Fiona’s fortunes had finally taken a turn for the better. She had married her beloved, and her life was as perfect as she had ever imagined it to be.

But when tragedy strikes them yet again, their fundamentally fragile lives threaten to fall apart.

Can Fiona and Soham overcome their grief?

Will the overwhelming pain destroy their lives?

Seasoned with the flavours of exotic Nepalese traditions and set in the picturesque Indian hill station, Gangtok, The Fragile Thread of Hope explores the themes of spirituality, faith, alcoholism, love, and guilt while navigating the complex maze of family relationships.

Beautifully written! Pankaj Giri definitely has a way with words. At times I didn’t even feel as if I was reading a novel simply because it felt like poetry half the time. I lost myself in the descriptions and loved every second of it.

He found the rope of his consciousness slipping as darkness swept over him like a cloak.

To me, The Fragile Thread of Hope is a book filled with emotions and confrontations. I hoped, I cried, I smiled. There was nothing else to do, I kept doing one of those three things, although the sequence did chance once in a while. I fell from happy, beautiful moments into sad, heart-breaking ones and then climbed back up again.
I wouldn’t compare this novel with a roller coaster ride though. It flows way too gently for that.

There are a lot of subjects the author touches upon. From alcoholism to abuse to dealing with the loss of a loved one and suicide. Even faith, spirituality has a fixed place in this story.
That spirituality felt so authentic. Set in India, where Pankaj Giri grew up himself, you are thrown into the Nepali culture. The food, the habits, the rituals. Everything is incorporated, yet it doesn’t feel forced at all. On the contrary. Authentic is exactly the word I’d use for this.

Moments passed, moments dipped in an ocean of apprehension, moments spawning an army of questions, moments hanging in the delicate branch of uncertainty, moments seeming to last an eternity.

Of course this novel is extremely character-driven. The pace isn’t necessarily slow, with all the jumps in time, but you do notice that you shrink, grow and develope together with the characters. They take you with them on their journey through loss, pain and hope in a beautiful way.

One of the first things I noticed were the different POV’s and time stamps when I just started reading. It took a bit of struggling to get my thoughts straight and not confuse the characters and different times when events took place.

Something that made reading that bit less fluent for me was the way some sentences didn’t feel natural to me. I think – shoot me if I’m wrong – the author, Pankaj Giri, doesn’t have English as his native language – neither do I, so no hard feelings. But when it comes to writing a book, it’s hard to hide. Yes, he writes beautifully and I loved his descriptions, but sometimes it felt too forced, too “neat” to be comfortable to read. I hope this makes any sense because I don’t know any other way to explain this…

Clinging on to a thread of hope, he inhaled a deep breath.

As for the munches, honoring Soham with a cup of delicious tea! I really do own way too much tea thanks to the lovely Manon @ A Bookish Flickering. She sells boxes with teas and candles and I lovelovelove them!

Pretty sure I have about ten bags of tea by now? I don’t drink enough tea! We can barely keep up, haha.

What’s your favorite tea?