Review of The Forbidden Fruit

[zainherb]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Forbidden Fruit" by Tina Scott.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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The Forbidden Fruit is a non-fiction book by Tina Scott. This book is a memoir with a short, real-life story attached afterwards. The memoir begins with the story of Tina's husband who is diagnosed with cancer and is informed of how long he has to live. The book takes us through Tina's struggle with an ailing spouse and the stages of her grief. Thereafter, the author takes us back in time to her childhood. She tells us some of her childhood memories, circumstances that shaped her, choices she made and relationships she had. From her past, she brings us back to the present, which finds her volunteering in a monastery in Nepal. Here, she teaches English to monks and lives with a local family. She chronicles both lovely and crazy experiences in a detailed and funny fashion.

I liked how the author wrote many sections of the book as the emails she sent to her family and friends. It gave the book a more authentic feel and gave me a deeper insight into the author's thoughts and feelings.In addition, I liked how the author included bits of humour in her narration. I found myself laughing as I read some parts of the book. The Frank, honest descriptions also made me cringe in some places. One of the experiences that made me laugh was that of the fruit seller who clearly ripped her off from the very first transaction.

I appreciate how the author dealt with her grief by travelling and giving to others who needed her. I believe others who may be experiencing something similar could benefit from the author's actions. The book was edited quite well and the absence of errors made reading easy and pleasant for me.

There was nothing I disliked about this book. For the aforementioned reasons, I rate it five out of five stars.

I recommend this book to those who like memoirs. Those who are experiencing grief in some form may also benefit from reading this book. Those who are triggered by descriptions of drug use, alcohol use and sexual abuse might find some parts of this book disturbing.

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The Forbidden Fruit
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