Review of Kalayla

Jyoti Murmu · Post by **Jyoti Murmu** » 25 Jun 2021, 20:32

[Following is a volunteer review of "Kalayla" by Jeannie Nicholas.]

4 out of 4 stars

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Kalayla is a fiction by Jeannie Nicholas. It is a story of 11 year old girl named Kalayla, her mother Maureen, a widow who doesn't consider herself as a good mother and an old lady Lena, who is also a widow and works as an estate agent. Their age gap is pretty much noticeable which makes the story more appealing to different age groups of readers. Beside being a fiction it has well touched the issue of racism, sexuality and abuse with simultaneous incorporation of the values of honesty, love, forgiveness and affection.

The story commences in the present scenario and gradually proceeds by unfolding of their pasts. Kalayla was lied by her mother about her maternal family. After the death of her father, Maureen works to fulfill their financial needs and Kalayla becomes a loner who spends most of her times with Lena. For Lena, Kalayla resembles to her twin sons and she treats her as her granddaughter. One day while doing her homework in school library Kalayla tries to probe about her maternal family. She gets thunderstrucked by the findings and couldn't figure it out why her mother lied to her which consequently brings a turmoil in their relationship. What is it that her mother lied about? Why she had to lie?

Kalayla presents strong characters of women, especially, the characters of Lena and Maureen who are widows but they never let themselves down. It also symbolizes the vision, that, how one woman can be a moral and emotional support of others. The character of Kalayla is also well portrayed by the author who makes herself seem stronger but seek for love and care which shows she is just like an ordinary child. As a reader I really enjoyed all the three characters with whom one can closely relate. As this story reflects three generations, the diverse opinions and perspectives of each character are well displayed. There was nothing that i dislike about the story. Book is professionally edited and even it is written in multiple POVs, it doesn't break the tempo of reading.

It deserves 4 out of 4 stars, not only it is professionally edited but all the characters feel real and create an impact on the reader, basically the three protagonists. It is not just the highly exaggerated collection of fictional events, but the moral values that are reflected throughout the story are totally relatable. The story is written in multiple POVs, giving all the characters their own voices which further enhance the presentation of the story.

Anyone who loves to read fictions can enjoy Kalayla. However, due to the presence of sexually explicit scenes and little mentions of physical abuse and rape attempt, I will not recommend it to minor and sensitive audiences.

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Kalayla
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