The Mala Beads : A Novel of Hope and Discovery in a Time of Chaos

by Kathy Aspden

A mysterious mala bead necklace connects the lives of 36 people throughout the United States and Canada—each needing a miracle. When a woman is robbed at a Cape Cod beach she gives the gunman all her money along with a small drawstring bag, eliciting a promise that he use what is contained inside. Filled with guilt, the man returns home and opens the bag to find a sandalwood necklace with scrolled instructions. "This japa mala holds ancient and powerful Sanskrit energy used to manifest miracles ... Once your intention has been realized you will pass this sacred energy to the next person in need ..."
And so begins the journey of The Mala Beads, the character's lives intertwining with the passing of the beads.
The people the beads touch are diverse, each story unfolding intimately and culturally.
• A young woman dealing with gender dysphoria.
• A Native American couple trying to save their horse ranch from a devastating wildfire.
• An alcoholic mother whose fear of losing her children overrides her need for help.
• A Russian immigrant restarting his life in Canada after the mother of his two children dies of an overdose in his homeland — and many more.

The Mala Beads is about human frailty and the enduring strength that can only come from a force greater than we know, written with the hope that each character’s journey will provide something meaningful to your own life’s journey.

"The writing is witty, masterful, and fun to read." Madeline Miele Holt, Producer, Books and the World
”These are edgy and profound tales of hope, love, and connection, set against the backdrop of the 2020 pandemic. I read The Mala Beads with a smile on my face and a lump in my throat."
—Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll, former Arts Editor for the Cape Cod Times
"I love this book. Whether you read it in one sitting or experience it slowly, it's a book you'll want to share with friends, buy as a gift, or suggest for your book club—an easy read with a lot to say."
—Christine Merser, Writer, Managing Editor, Blue 2 Publishing
Kathy Aspden is a novelist and screenwriter from Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
For more information on her work go to www.kathyaspden.com

296 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 6, 2024

About the author

Kathy Aspden is a novelist, screenwriter, lifelong resident of Cape Cod, public speaker, occasional host for the television show Books and the World, and Vice President of The Cape Cod Writers Center. Her first novel, Baklava, Biscotti, and an Irishman, was a finalist for the Multicultural Fiction category of International Book Awards. The sequel, An Irishman’s Son, was published in May 2020. Her 2015 short film, The Solomons’ Dog, was a finalist in the 15-Minutes of Fame Film Festival in Orlando, Florida. Her short, BLAISE MADDOCH is currently a finalist in the UK Film Festival. Aspden has several feature screenplays and shorts available which can be previewed at www.kathyaspden.com.
Interested in everything from the next great invention to the easiest way to tile a bathroom, Kathy is a gleeful research junkie and an enthusiastic participant in the human experience.

Reviews

[Alyson Larrabee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tons of stories about various people’s lives during the pandemic, all strung together by each person’s ownership of the Mala beads. (Pun intended) The author seems to have tried to cover just about every ethnic group, mental health issue, disability, and all of the people represented in the LGBTQIA+ initials. I suppose it was a global pandemic, so she was trying to cover the whole globe by creating characters from so many different cultures. The settings span from the East to the West Coast of the U. S. and parts of Canada. As a result, the novel is kind of a mile wide and an inch deep. In my opinion, Ms. Aspen’s novel would’ve been better if she chose the best of the stories and characters and dug deeper. Some of the chapters were very interesting, thoughtful and well done and left me wanting to know more about the characters and their predicaments. I felt like skimming and skipping over a few of the other chapters, though. Her treatment of complex and serious issues seemed unintentionally superficial sometimes, perhaps because she was trying to write about so many aspects of humanity and all its dilemmas. The ending tied everything together beautifully, however, with a wish so many parents wish, expressed clearly and eloquently: “Dear God, please keep my children safe, and let every stumble lead them to greater happiness.“

[Lucien Kade · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ll admit, when I started The Mala Beads, I wondered if the premise would feel gimmicky. A necklace passed from person to person, each life changed in turn, can easily slide into sentimentality. It doesn’t. Or at least, not in the way I feared.

What surprised me most was how grounded the stories feel. The bead necklace carries this whisper of mysticism, but the real weight of the book sits squarely on human weakness. Addiction. Grief.

Identity. Displacement. Wildfire. Gender dysphoria. None of these are treated like tidy moral lessons. They’re messy and culturally specific, and Kathy Aspden gives each character enough space to feel like more than a symbol in a chain.

Structurally, the novel reads almost like interconnected short stories. Thirty-six lives is ambitious. There were moments I wished a few arcs had lingered longer. Just when I felt deeply attached to someone, the beads moved on. But that transience is also the point. The necklace doesn’t belong to anyone. It moves. Healing moves. Hope moves. No one gets to hold onto it permanently.

Thematically, what stayed with me was the idea that transformation often begins with intention. The Sanskrit instructions in the bag could have turned preachy or overly mystical, but instead they function more like a prompt. The beads don’t erase pain. They invite each person to participate in their own change. That nuance mattered to me. The “miracles” aren’t flashy. They’re quiet shifts. A decision. A surrender. A moment of courage.

I also appreciated how the book handles diversity without flattening it. The Native American couple, the Russian immigrant, the mother battling alcoholism, the young woman navigating gender identity. Their struggles aren’t reduced to talking points. Still, with such a wide cast, emotional depth inevitably varies. A few stories felt more sketched than lived-in.

By the end, I didn’t feel dazzled by magic. I felt steadied by the suggestion that grace can travel through ordinary objects and imperfect people. The beads are a thread, yes. But the real strand connecting these stories is vulnerability. Every character is, in some way, at the edge of collapse.

Closing the book, I kept thinking about how often help arrives indirectly. Through a stranger. Through a symbolic act. Through something we almost overlook. The Mala Beads doesn’t promise a world without chaos. It imagines one where hope passes quietly from hand to hand.

[nancy boyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Mala Beads

I absolutely loved this book and have recommended it to all my friends! Definitly a feel good book for all!

[Allyson Grady · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good quick and easy read but i felt like all the stories were the same.

[Jackie]

DNF

[Linda Limback · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good intentioned. Stories were disconnected and so short there was no real character development or plot. Only read about 50 pages before I lost interest.

[Susan Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let's start with a little bit about me: I'm about as far from a mystical/spiritual/magical thinker as you can get. Thus, I started reading The Mala Beads with a certain sense of "Oh yeah? Show me." Author Kathy Aspden showed me big time. She had me at Claire, the first of her 36 characters, who had the audacity to negotiate with her armed robber, and then for kickers gave him a tip. We follow the mala beads as they are handed off, lost, passed on, stolen, or mailed in succession to 35 other people whose only commonality is their very human need to be relieved from desperate circumstances: fear, guilt, pain, debt, regret, depression... you get the picture. And in the end, although I am no more of a mystical thinker than I was before, I finished the book with a renewed belief in the goodness of my fellow humans, that I can find common ground with "the other," and -- and please take this literally --that miracles happen every day.

The scenes are short; sometimes just a couple of pages, so if it’s your predilection, you can consume The Mala Beads in small doses. Ms. Aspden has painted each episode with great economy, but each one is vivid… almost like a plein air painting, which has to be sketched in a short amount of time before the light changes. I highly recommend this book. I write this review from Costa Rica. My only quandary now is should I bring The Mala Beads home with me or leave it in my beach hostel's lending library to help Ms. Aspden gain an international following?

[A.D. Metcalfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engaging, inspiring, what a great read. In each connected short story, the author manages to draw you in quickly and provide characters' backstories with depth, but also economy. (Not an easy task!) Each chapter is so well-rounded that they leave you feeling like you read a full novel.

[Nancy Dugan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun feel good book full of stories of tragedies turned to good with the mala beads.. love the idea of paying it forward and the links ..

[Laurel Hartman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uplifting and full of hope. The literary device of linking the journey of these beads through these stories was very well done.