Perfect family drama
Reviewed by Aditi Garg

Overwinter
by Ratika Kapur. Hachette India. Pages 239. Rs 495.

Human beings are arguably the most complex creatures on the planet. They think and rethink, process and analyse and then act and react to each and every action of theirs and of others. This capability to scrutinise every action, their own and of others, is a boon as well as a bane. They are never free of the baggage that they impose on themselves. Add to that, worrying not just for oneself but also for everyone they love and wanting to please them all the time. With such a burden on their hearts and heads, they set out to in quest of happiness.

Overwinter is the first novel of Ratika Kapur. She has worked in publishing and multimedia before taking to writing full time. She is currently writing her second novel. Overwinter was shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize. It lays bare the tribulations that are a part of any extended family, some more seriously inflicted than others. It is a glimpse into the very heart of family ties that bind and threaten to throttle at the same time.

Kapur puts forth the story of Kritika, a girl born in India, who shifted base to New York only to shift back to India in time. She is a free-spirited girl who is reeling under the effects of her strange ties with her family. Brought up in a broken family, she loses her mother early in life and is further displaced from her roots by being placed in the care of her maternal aunt and uncle. Her aunt, Neera, is not the easiest person to talk to. She gets along like a house on fire with her uncle who seems to be the most doting person in her life. In spite of and because of her odd interaction with almost everyone, she cannot make sense of most of her relationships. She socialises with a few people and finds it difficult to open up with them too. Kritika is a very private person and is surrounded by people who also build forts around themselves. As a result, her mother is a mystery for her most of her life.

Neera is shown as a person who has been through a lot in her life and this reflects in her character. She completely ignores certain things while being totally overwhelmed by others. Despite everything that transpires in their family, she deeply cares for Kritika. Kritika finds her behaviour intolerable at times leading to arguments between the two of them.

It is also through Neera that she discovers a lot about her mother which even her father did not know. The more she discovers about her mother, the worse she feels. She believes that there is a quick-fix solution for everything and the ‘forever’ tag of any relationship is enough to scare her off. Her uncle has been the biggest influence in her life and at this point in her life, she is unsure whether it has been positive or negative. Her love-hate relationship with the people in her life and the tumultuous effect it has on her personality and the way she lives her life are interesting to read about.

Sometimes knowing another person’s point of view helps put things in the right perspective. When Kritika’s father shares a long-buried family secret, she is better able to understand her aunt. Written with an eagle’s-eye view of the family drama as it unfolds, it offers an insight into the world of household bliss and the little it takes to make things fall apart. Kapur has touched the right raw nerve. While some things may seem farfetched, isn’t truth stranger than fiction? It is a very well-written story that makes the plot very believable. All the characters seem to jump out of the book and come alive as if it were unfolding before you.

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