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• Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Romance
• Source: Review Copy
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 29
• Publisher: Niyogi Books
• Publication Date:  10 June, 2019
• My Rating: 4 stars

The book is narrated by Saoli. She went to IIT Kharagpur and has a lot of fond memories in the town. She is coming back to India to teach English at IIT KGP after separating from her husband. She meets Parushni at a paper conference at Jadavpur University. Since both of their papers were on lesbianism, they get to know each other and form a close bond. 

Saoli finds a diary filled with poetry. The poems are filled with references from Greek mythology. She is fascinated by one poem which is written in dactyl hexameter, the Homeric meter. It talked about Parush and Batista. From then on, we read about the story of this couple. Parush is Parushni’s brother, and Batista was the girl he fell in love with during his college days.

The entire story revolves around Prembajar. I didn’t know much about IIT Kharagpur and so, it was interesting to know that the college is the highlight of this small town.

The plot is very complex. I liked the inclusion of Greek mythology inclusion in the book since I have not seen many Indian authors do that. There were some very interesting interpretations of characters in Greek myths. I especially liked the comparison of Rikshi and Kalyani with Artemis and Callisto. There were also many authors and poets are mentioned. Since I’m in college studying literature, I highly enjoyed that part as well as the various interpretations. The writing style of the book is lovely.

I found Bitasta’s character very unlikable. She thought too highly of herself for no reason. She didn’t treat Parush like she loved or respected him. I did find her mother, Panchali quite interesting. She had a belief that nothing that comes from the heart is wrong. While I don’t fully agree, I did find this interesting. Parush felt like a weak character as well. He seemed to be attracted to every woman he met.

There is a unique take on love in the story. If it occurs naturally, no kind of love is wrong. It can happen towards anyone regardless of their gender, relation or anything else.

This book had stories within stories. There were so many characters that it was difficult to fully connect with a few. There were also too many different relationships. I did not like Parush’s different relationships with so many women. Some detailed sub-plots could have been avoided such as all the technical explanations. I also found it strange how all the characters seemed to settle in the United States by the end.

I did enjoy reading this book. The writing style made it a pleasure to read. While I admire complex plots, I think they should be carefully structured to not confuse the reader.

Love, tragedy, heartbreak, and destruction- this book shows the impact of a lot of human emotions. Most of all, it is a heartbreaking tale of love.

The Broken Amoretti is a book for the romantics.

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