Book Review #58: A Different Life By Alice Taft

Title: A Different Life

Author: Alice Taft

Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd.

ISBN: 9781849639064

Genre: Autobiography

Pages: 210

Source: Review Copy from Publishers

There is always a tough situation when you are reviewing an autobiography book. You can’t really judge the person and their story by merely reading 200 odd pages. It appears to be too judgmental when you sort of rate an autobiography. This becomes even more difficult when the autobiography you are reading is not a famous personality. That’s the exact situation I felt when I offered to review this book “A Different Life” by the publishers. This book is the story of a woman and her household and her entire journey from the age of 7 till the age of 60 plus.

The person, whom this book talks about, is a person who is living right next to our door. They might not be a celebrity, yet they make their life memorable in a way Alice Taft has made her life. I did really enjoy reading this book. She explained her simple life in a more simplistic way without hyping anything of that sort. She is not a big shot or a big business tycoon or even a TV personality. She is a woman that led a different life. Hence the title “A Different Life”

So, what makes the story of Alice Taft a different one? Well, to speak of everything, one must read this book to understand it better. Born in a bigger family with 11 odd siblings, for sure, she didn't have the best of the childhood that we can talk off. She faced numerous hurdles as early as possible. With such a large family, she and her other few siblings were forced to move to different houses where they could get a proper childhood. She survived her childhood in many houses. She worked in most of the unusual circumstances and yet she didn't let go of her spirit. In all these events, she made sure that, she kept in contact with her siblings, no matter where they stayed for the rest of their lives.

As she narrates her story in subsequent chapters, she did numerous odd jobs to stay alive. She worked as a cook; she worked as a baby sitter, etc… I think her life took a leap when she started to work in Royal Household of England. She made a career for herself by working in Royal Kitchen. She explained her tryst with cooking in the Royal Household in a greater detail. She explained the numerous occasions where she saw and interacted with the queen and appreciations she received from queen, etc…. She also didn't forget to mention her love interests and her date with few men who had taken interest in Alice.

She did mention her marriage, her loving husband and her charming kids etc… as far as her story is concerned, her husband Tony Taft has been a great support for her. Without his constant encouragement and support, she wouldn't have been able to build her career. She also mentions about her great friendship and talks good about her colleagues and her neighbors.  

Overall, I feel this book is a good read and you will come to know about Alice Taft. She is such a fine lady and I believe she lead a happy different life. Rating this book is somewhat injustice according to me. She is one in a million who lived and retired without becoming famous. But, this book gives a glimpse of Royal Kitchen and the food preferences of the Royal Household, and more than that, this book gives us firsthand information.

Book Review #34: And The Mountains Echoed By Khaled Hosseini

There are few authors who can be termed as true storytellers and there are few like chetan bhagat. Khaled Hosseini is a master when it comes to storytelling. He gave us, the readers, what can be called as an emotionally charged novel. Without a second thought, this is one of the finest books I've read in recent times.

And The Mountains Echoed a third novel from Hosseini, captures a typical Afghanistan family of the 1950′s followed by the Soviet’s attack in late 60′s to 70′s and the invasion of Taliban, etc..

The story beings by a fairy tale that a father (Saboor) is narrating to his kids (Abdullah and Pari) in a remote village called Shadbagh in Afghanistan. This was an everyday scene in Saboor’s family. To make the ends meet and to win daily bread and also to support his new pregnant wife (yes, the 2nd one), Saboor takes an unexpected step through selling his younger daughter Pari, to a wealthy couple in Kabul who are childless. Pari was barely 3 years old when she was sold by her father. Pari was not aware of such consequence, but her brother Abdullah who was 7 years old, was devastated by this cruel act of his father.

Everyday Abdullah gets reminded of her little sister every now and then, all those happy moment playing with her, all those little gifts that he had bought for his sister, etc.. Pari loved the birds feather like it was a diamond in possession. Abdullah carefully collected all these feathers over the years to gift her and see the joy in her little sisters face. Now, all those moments have been crushed to sands and now he is all alone in the house. Later events makes him to run to Pakistan and he starts working in a restaurant and few years later he travels to USA along with his wife and daughter Pari (Yes, he named his daughter as Pari) and starts his own Kebab restaurant.

The entire story is captured from 1950 till 2010 that spans over more than 50 years. Pari’s new parents, Nila wahdati, a poet by passion and Suleiman Wahdati an artist. Even here, there is a tragedy, Nila divorces her husband and takes Pari to France forever. Then the novel takes another turn, describing Pari’s life in France, her bonding with her new mom, her college life, etc.. But, Pari often gets a jolt sometimes that, she is missing something, like she is not born to Nila and she constantly gets reminded of a little village where she was born somewhere buried deep in her memory.

The novel has many characters and many stories that was probably unnecessary to the novel. There is one character called Nabi, the driver of Suleiman Wahdati and also maternal uncle of Pari and Abdullah, who actually sets the stage for Wahdati couple to buy his sister’s daughter Pari. Later in the novel, Nabi writes a long letter to Mr. Markos, a plastic surgeon, working in Afghanistan for over 10 years. He describes what all the things he has done, and he also mentions about Pari.

All those hardships and fights and long waits to reconcile is described in the last 2 chapters, which is a must read from the book. After all, will Pari and Abdullah meet in the end ??. Will old Abdullah be able recognize her sister old Pari ? You must read that in the book. I stop it at this point, so readers can actually go and read this novel. For sure, its an emotional roller coaster ride for both Pari and Abdullah. Hosseini has captured this very essence brilliantly and carried it throughout the novel. I assure you, you will be restless to witness the climax.

My Rating:

4/5