Title: Vectors in the Void
Author: Giselle Mehta
Publisher: Leadstart
Genre: Historical Fiction
First Publication: 2022
Language: English
Book Summary: Vectors in the Void by Giselle Mehta
Zara’s birth on a turbulent day during the Indian Freedom Struggle foretells an eventful life. The Holocaust and the Second World War in Europe reach her as a schoolgirl in Murree, pre-Partition India’s picturesque hill station with lasting consequences, turning a teenager into a mature woman. The births of three nations- India, Pakistan, and Israel touch her trajectory.
Zara moves on to a prudent marriage in the changed setting of Independent India. While Business and Swatantra Party politics engage her, external events cast their shadows. The Sino-Indian conflict leaves a family grappling with loss and mystery… Later, the Proclamation of Emergency spells terror and suffering.
She negotiates tumultuous family dramas. The contrasting needs of twin daughters are a tightrope walk- one of them being beautiful and brilliant, the other sickly and artistic. When equilibrium is in sight, an unexpected communication conveys a shocking truth. Connecting with a celebrity in London could revive a precious bond, or shatter a fragile family…
Zara and her family brim with compelling inclinations and adventurous impulses, audacious hope and autonomous choices, charting their routes to personal significance.
This is a compelling saga that ties together diverse events and elements, races and places, in a masterly display of story-telling art…
Book Review: Vectors in the Void by Giselle Mehta
Set in India, before and after the independence of the country, Vectors in the Void follows Zara as she grows from a carefree girl to a mature lady through the course of many historical events, including the Indian Freedom Struggle, the Holocaust, and World War II in Europe, the partition of India and Pakistan, the Sino-Indian conflict, the devastation of war, and the terror of the declaration of emergency. Despite the fact that the world in which Zara spent her childhood has been obliterated and will never exist again, she is brave, powerful, and determined. She is a fierce fighter who will risk everything for her family’s well-being. She has to deal with precarious circumstances that are trying, stressful, and bring shocking revelations.
The story of Zara’s life, born during the Indian Freedom Struggle, can be construed as India’s story before and after independence, with the sublime intertwining of the protagonist’s emotions with those of the country. Its backdrop of India’s independence struggle, the Partition of India and Pakistan after the disastrous and cowardly retreat of the British occupiers, and the ensuing Emergency under Indira Gandhi provide a breathtaking tableau for Giselle Mehta’s narrative.
One of the things that makes this novel stand out from others is the excellent character development. Each and every character is masterfully portrayed, and the primary characters are so thoroughly developed that you can hardly believe they are imaginary—they leap off the page and dominate your mind. Zara is one of the most endearing characters due to the fact that everything she did and said had a purpose in the story. She had a lot of depth, was credible, and was well fleshed out on the page.
Giselle Mehta’s handling of relationships between her characters in the story is compelling. The way in which these characters adapt to one another, exert influence over one another, communicate with one another, and interact in a contextual manner creates a world that is so vibrant that actual life starts to appear dull in comparison. She vividly recreates a bygone age, pulsing with life and bittersweet memories and pride. Her characters are larger-than-life figures, each representing a different facet of society and brimming with complexity and internal conflicts.
While the story itself is tremendous—part historical fiction novel, part character study—the author’s storytelling skill in Vectors in the Void is exceptional. The book’s prose struck me as exceptionally lyrical and dramatic, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Giselle Mehta was able to conjure up such a vibrant and technicolor world that it would make you feel as if you were really there in it. The pace of the book is well matched to the level of detail that is provided for both the historical events and the characters in the story.
On each and every one of its many levels, Vectors in the Void is a brilliant work of creative writing in literature. There is not a single instant or sentence inside its pages that is unimportant or unnecessary. From a purely technical point of view, Giselle Mehta’s use of characterization, setting, research, conflict, point of view, narrative voice, symbolism, foreshadowing, allusion, and every other literary device in the handbook is flawless and awe-inspiring. Additionally, the way in which she presents the conflict between the characters is compelling. Even more incredible is the fact that she is able to balance all of this while still delivering a story that is endlessly engaging.
