Author- Barbara Carmichael
Publisher- Niyogi Books
Genre- Memoir
Format- Flexibound
Length- 248 pages
Year- 2020
ISBN- 978-9389136371
Rating- 5/5 stars
Australian author Barbara Carmichael's memoir "Time to Say Goodbye" is an amazing account of pure friendship and selfless love, weaved delicately on the strings of trust and care. This is undoubtedly one of the best nonfiction I have read this year. The memoir is actually a dedication to author's dear friend and brother Tarun Singh Inda, whom she met in her trip to Udaipur in 2005. With the passage of time as they come to know each other better, their friendship grew stronger. This is a unique tale of two people from different geographical areas, cultures and ethnicity, pulled by an invisible force of fate and finally connected with each other in the eternal bond of friendship.
The Memoir covers a timespan of nine years from March 2005 when the author's friend Brigitte invited her to India to the year 2014 when she heard the news of his best friend's demise. In these long nine years she visited India over thirteen times which resulted in some pretty amazing experiences she had over the years, be it their visit to the royal forts of Udaipur and Jodhpur, observing the celestial beauty of the Taj Mahal to roaming around the zigzag streets of New Delhi.
The thing that I loved the most about the memoir is the author's amazing writing style coupled with her conversational tone and perfect selection of words and phrases to evoke the right emotion, which makes the reader feel connected with the narrative instantly. Right from the prologue which begins with the tragic news of Tarun's unfortunate demise, the readers feel very much connected with the author and it creates a desire to know more about him and the relationship he shared with the author.
The best part for me was the epilogue of the memoir where Barbara has written her last letter to Tarun. I must confess I got a bit emotional while going through the letter.
The cover image by Mitchell Ng Liang an and the cover design by Nabanita Das is absolutely fantastic. It gives the memoir an unque ethnic Indian appeal and grabs our attention instantly.
Overall, I have utterly enjoyed going through this amazing peice of work and encourage everyone to read it. I give this book full 5 stars for the amazing writing style, narrative technique and overall presentation.
Happy Reading
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