Saudade: Road To Requiem

by Shreen Vaid

Saudade is the deeply emotional saga of twins Samarah and Aahil's journey to rebuild their identities after suffering two catastrophic blows. While Samarah, filled with anger and loneliness, struggles in the shadows of anonymity, Aahil personifies the emotionally detached man incapable of love, loyalty or commitment. Four years later, when fate brings the estranged siblings face to face with a childhood friend, Samarah is compelled to confront the searing guilt she feels over her failed relationships, and Aahil the truth about his soulless existence. Seeking a forgotten concept of 'normalcy', the siblings travel out of their lost immigrant days spent in England to Delhi – a home that contains memories of love and loss in equal haunting measure. As their group of tossed-salad-like friends map their own conflicts and seek resolutions within a frail modern society, Samarah and Aahil learn the importance of dignity and trust. This poignant and powerful story of loss, friendship and ultimate human resilience, unfolds against a tapestry of tender memories. A gravely human and timeless tale, it resonates in both heart and mind.

272 pages, Paperback

Published June 22, 2018

Reviews

[Ipshita · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Each time something terrible happens, we have two choices before us. The first, the easier one, is to run as fast and as far as possible; to take flight and avoid the problem. But don't be fooled. There is nothing easy about running away, especially from love or loved ones. It ruins us. The second and more difficult option is to stick around, face our misfortunes and fight, along with our people. Fighting is hard and requires deep reservoirs of energy, but in the long run it does not consume us like flight does. Instead, it provides us with an undefeatable spirit that can right the wrong; that can shake the world."
—Shreen Vaid, 'Saudade, Road to Requiem'
.
.
____
.
.
Samarah and Aahil—a pair of inseparable twins—come face to face with a life-altering tragedy. Their grief leads to surfacing of several negative emotions—disassociation, anger and guilt. Until their fiercely loyal group of friends—rather family—intervene, supporting them through the trauma and gradually making them recognise the power of love, affection and familial bonding.
.
.
.
The book touches upon relatable themes of loss, self-discovery, recovery post trauma and most importantly the significant role of people around us. For a debut novel, 'Saudade' is finely written. With the right amount of attention given to characters, the readers witness the past, present and future of the protagonists with clarity. The book is never dull, although predictable at times.
.
.
.

One thing that I absolutely loved are the soliloquies at the end of every (most) chapters. The soliloquies not only represent the author's voice but they also give a glimpse of the larger ideas at play within the novel. Conversely, one thing I strongly believe to have worked against the novel is its verbosity. I believe the book was a little too long and would've worked way better had it been shorter.
A 3/5🌟 read for me.

[Stutii Garg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being an extremely picky reader, the book needs to capture my attention within the first three pages, if not-then I’m out. I also, for some reason, can’t read more than 10-15 pages in one go. However, the moment I started reading Saduade, I was hooked. I was carrying this book everywhere, I was reading on my way to work, during my weekends, basically any free moment I had to myself, I was reading. I was basically enslaved to Saudade. Instead of working on my thesis, I was reading, instead of doing my visa apps I was reading! At one point, this book got the worst of me. Tears were rolling down my face, and my vision went blurred, yet I continued reading !

Coming from a non reader — I cannot recommend this book enough!