Kith and Kin Chronicles of a Clan
My very first book is now out!
Kith & Kin is a collection of nineteen short stories that stand well enough alone but all of them are connected: they have characters belonging to one clan, the Melekat clan, an old Nair family belonging to an unspecified town in south Malabar.
The lynchpin in the book is the matriarch, Ammini Amma, a woman of considerable strength and beauty. Her tangible presence is like a ticker tape running through the stories; her siblings, her large brood of offspring, her descendants down one or two generations, all form the jigsaw puzzle of the book.
Irate men, whimsical women, people trapped in their own time zone, people trapped in pubs, cuckolded wives, cuckolding wives. A wannabe journalist in search of the perfect story, a girl in search of a husband, a woman in search of a reason, any reason, to leave her husband. A love story that moves in expected ways, then veers off down an unexpected path.
Most of these people are as normal as normal goes; some are troubled, some wacky, some plain weird. There is love, laughter, betrayal, hurt, anger, meetings, partings, there is even a ghost- with- a- difference.
Meet the Melekats. They are people like you yet very unlike you.
How the Author Announced it on a Social Networking Site
LONG VERSION: There were days when I’d wake up with words sentences, character eccentricities pouring out of my head so one day I set down a pack of short stories in bits and pieces and then timorously hawked it and then one publisher was kind enough to… okay, CUT!
SHORT VERSION: Guys, my book of short stories titled `Kith and Kin` (Rupa Publications) will shortly hit bookstores, Flipkart, Amazon, et al. Here’s a sneak peek of the cover, front and back pics by the amazing Shanavas Pn.
Launch Snapshots
The Book toured multiple cities and had a very successful launch. Below are some snapshots from various launch events:
- Kith and Kin: Snapshots I/Delhi
- Kith and Kin: Snapshots II: Bangalore/Pune
- Kith and Kin: Snapshots III/Bangalore/Kochi
- Kith and Kin: Snapshots IV/ Bangalore/Chennai
- Kith and Kin: Snapshots V/ The Bangalore Launch
Buy the Book Online
Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/yc2uwubx
Flipkart: https://tinyurl.com/2s978p8j
Many years on, the appreciation continues to flow in.This from Instagram.
And this via an FB message from a reader.
Book Reviews in Media/Press
- Blog Interview on Prem Rao’s Blogsite
- Interview with Smart Women
- Interview with WriterStory
- Review on blogger Athira Jim`s Bewitched By Words blog
- The writer on writing: Perspective column in the Books page of The New Indian Express
- Media Reviews 1
- Media Reviews 2
- Media Review 3
- Media Reviews 4
- Media Reviews 5
The New Indian Express Feature
- Reader Reactions
It`s been eleven (eleven!) years since K & K set off on its journey into the world and I`m still receiving feedback of the best kind! So overwhelmed by those who pick up and read a copy of the book and then take the trouble to call or drop me a line.
Priya Ray Chaudhuri, Kolkata
Kith and Kin was a journey that left me both satisfied yet wanting some more. The stories in the book work both independently as well as part of the tapestry that the author has woven to showcase the Melekat family.
I found myself recognising the characters and their relatives with familiarity when I encountered them in the subsequent stories and this created a sense of warmth for the book. It was as if the reader gets to know the family and its people bit by bit.
Being the sort of person who forms mental images easily, the descriptions of certain poignant scenes have gotten etched in my mind from the book. For example: a spirit who is taken aback at getting shouted at by an elderly lady while trying to pull the washing down from a clothesline, a son reflecting on the state of his parents’ marriage while sitting with his mother on the roof of a launch, middle aged spinster aunts leading a routine bound life in a village. Though I must add that some stories in the collection will be better loved than others just as in life we like some people better than we like others.
All of these and much more threaded together with a variety of emotions and the author’s effortlessly flowing style of writing make the book a good read.
Poonam Sharma, Bangalore
Enjoyed the read. I think this was a better format than a novel because it gave a bigger landscape to explore different perspectives. I specifically liked the male vs female perspective on attraction, and the fact that mental health was covered without quite naming it, and written very well from the patient`s perspective.
Kavitha Shanmugham, Bangalore
I`m a late reader of K & K, Sheila, and I loved it! All the stories carry so much empathy, the observations are so acute, there is so much detail. So proud of you, my friend!
Revathi Sivakumar, Bangalore
I liked K & K very much. Such a feast for all the senses.
Stanley Carvalho, Bangalore
This is spiffy writing and a seamless flow of narrative despite the many people and relationships of this massive family! Hats off, Sheila!
Nilanjana Taraphder, Kolkata
I just finished reading K & K. How on earth did you so expertly weave this intricate narrative?? I am astounded!! Henceforth, there should be another word in the dictionary: Sheilaism. Certain expressions are so unique that they must be regarded as Sheilaisms. The ghost story was terrific!
Paul Mathew, Chennai
I have been going through your book and enjoying it thoroughly. Many of the characters are very real and recognisable and the humour often dark and hard hitting. Will send you a longer note after I finish. It is by no means an easy read as I initially thought. I feel the need to read it slowly, relishing all the imagery . . .
Manjul Madampath Menon, Bangalore
I read this book at one sitting. The language was familiar, the stories engaging. At the end, there were questions and impressions jostling for attention in my mind. I had to let them brew before I came to an appreciation of what was being said.
I loved the glimpses into each character, the quick insights, the author’s voice. Most of all, I saw how easily it could have a novel, with the characters and their interrelationships laid out for us.
A satisfying read, thank you Sheila!
Nitya Sivasubramanian on Good Reads. (She rated it 5/5)
Much like sitting down for a chat with an old friend, this wonderfully gossipy little book wanders from one member to another of a large old family, detailing the strange tales that make a family real. From woman in a pool to a man at a reunion dinner, no story is over told, over detailed, overly fleshed out. Instead, the reader is simply offered a little glimpse of a moment, a turning point, or a single realization, that allows the reader some, but not full, understanding, much as a person can never fully understand another. A wonderfully easy read, I was only disappointed when I realized I had come to the end and had no more to learn about the vaunted Melekat family.
Malini Menon, Coimbatore
Fifty pages into your book..and boy! am I loving it!!!!..) Felt like I was quaffing down wonderful gulps of chilled beer on a hot, sticky afternoon… Sheila, I absolutely adore the way you write! Cheers to your book launch! Each character so deftly drawn and so lifelike..almost makes you believe that there is indeed a Melekat tharavad somewhere out there in God’s own country.
Jayanti Prakash, California
Wow! What a book, totally transferred me to a typical household with all its eccentricities. It was interesting but wanted to know more about the different interesting characters. Loved the fact that the women were all strong and quite independent or least managed to get their way !!! I have always regretted not having a large family in Kerala with the typical Tharavad (as everything was solid when we were young) so I must say thanks for giving me an insight into a typical large family.