A former DU Beat Correspondent, Namrata Gupta writes her second book, a romantic thriller titled ‘The Full Circle.. Stumbling Upon A Sinful Mystery”
Namrata Gupta, an alumnus of Delhi University and a former correspondent at DU Beat, wrote her first book, ‘A Silent Promise’ (2015), while she was pursuing her graduation in Literature from Hans Raj College. She went on to get a masters’ degree in Management from LBSIM, Delhi. Her debut novel, ‘A Silent Promise’, was launched by Mr. Petko Doykov, the Ambassador of Bulgaria, and has been a part of Gurgaon International Film and Literature Festival. Wishing to make an immutable influence on the minds of readers through her writing, Namrata got her second book, ‘The Full Circle.. Stumbling Upon A Sinful Mystery’ (2018), released recently.
‘The Full Circle.. Stumbling Upon A Sinful Mystery’ is a Romantic Thriller. The book captures the story of a traveller, Aditya, who on his journey to finding a ‘home’, ‘home’ in the spiritual sense of the word, becomes a part of various stories and helps people in his own way. He helps strengthen people, makes them realise their own worth and changes them for the better before leaving for some other place. He gets very popular at the places he visits because of this quality. Aditya always took something from the places he visited and this somehow helped him give something to his next destination, which is now Darjeeling. Aditya meets his contrast in Zinnia, who prefers stability in life, while staying as a tenant in her mother’s house. His adventurous way of living life is challenged when he develops strong feelings for Zinnia, who considers his way of life as a prolonged hobby. While helping Jacqueline, an emotionally distraught girl, into shaping her life in a new way, he realizes he feels lost, for the first time in his life, without Zinnia. Amidst all the happenings, he stumbles upon a devastating secret about Zinnia’s past that will turn her life upside down. The past and the present merge beautifully as they uncover the truth behind her past.
The book breaks stereotypes at many levels and questions ‘settlement’ as being related to ‘fixedness’. The concept of a ‘home’ is shifted from the physical domain to the spiritual one. The book asserts the fact that ‘home’ doesn’t necessarily has to be a place. It can be a person too. And ‘settlement’ is a state of mind, related to contentment with one’s life.
Namrata has always loved travelling and exploring new things. She feels that the memories of the places one visits is the best form of treasure that one can accumulate in his life and the best of the stories are narrated when they are told across boundaries. Fascinated by the idea of having a home everywhere and nowhere, she went on to explore how travelers live and impressed by their way of life, she decided to give the idea greater reach by writing about it. At the same time, wanting to write a thriller, she merged the two concepts. And so in her book, the story of a traveller is charted out in a Romance Thriller framework.
Besides capturing a range of stories at the places Aditya visits, the novel also highlights a range of complexities in its characters, who come from different cultures, backgrounds, mind set and have had different life experiences. Zinnia’s is a complex character. She has had her own struggles to fight with. She is tough yet soft. She exhibits motherly care yet is a young girl at heart. In the same manner, Jacqueline and Aditya too have had their own past. Jacqueline’s character is reformed from an emotionally distraught girl to an empowered one. Aditya is shown with fine degrees of empathy, understanding, maturity and kindness.
The book can be bought from major offline stores and online from Amazon at https://www.amazon.in/Full-Circle-Namrata-Gupta/dp/9387022285