Reviews: (by author)

Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee, The Conch Bearer. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2005. ISBN 0-689-87242-9. $5.99

Young Anand longs for a life of magic and adventure. But life with his mother and sister in the slums of Kolkata holds little of either until one day Anand befriends an old man named Abbaydatta, the representative of a secret brotherhood of healers. Suddenly, Anand finds himself swept away on a grand journey across the Indian subcontinent. He and his companions, the mysterious Abbaydatta and Nisha, a sweeper girl, must return a magic conch shell with mystical powers to its shrine in the secret Silver Valley of the Healers, high in the Himalayas. They are pursued by the evil Surabhanu, a fallen Healer who purloined the conch to further his own malign desires and will stop at nothing to get it back. Besieged by marvels and portents at every turn, Anand and his friends struggle to overcome the snares of the wicked Surabhanu and enter the Silver Valley For Anand, the supernatural becomes all too real as he pursues his quest. Will he ever return to his home and family? Chitra Divakaruni, an award-winning poet and author, has written a whirlwind adventure fantasy which deftly interweaves colorful description and exciting action sequences with an abiding interest in moral development. Readers share Anand's feelings of loss, sadness, joy and yearning as he and his friends travel through the sensual kaleidoscope of India. Anand's journey takes place in both the physical and spiritual realms as he battles doubt and struggles to overcome selfishness. To return the conch to its rightful home he must learn to embrace self-sacrifice and recognize the respective values of loyalty, honesty, and compassion. In the hands of a lesser storyteller, these issues might stifle the lively spirit of the narrative, but Divakaruni is never ponderous. The result is a deeply moving, beautifully written tale of one boy's search for enlightenment.

Mark Janssen, January 2006

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