Book Review : The Blank Cheque

The Blank Cheque by Fern Frances is a fiction version of the story based on true story of her life.

The book is a heart-wrenching, and painful journey of the protagonist of the story who faces multiple issues from getting married to India and then settling in India getting trapped without having anywhere to go in the end.

Book Blurb on Amazon

A deadly combination of Financial, Psychological and Emotional Abuse.

INSPIRED BY A TRUE STORY

Gemma had been in Europe for business and vacation a few months earlier – now she was alone in a foreign country, fighting to stay alive and escape a relationship that had entrapped her for decades...

She was young. So was Prateek. A cross-cultural relationship - it was cursed from the start.

The early signs were there for Gemma to see, but the blindfold was tied, and the damage had begun.

“They asked for dowry. Isn’t that an old custom?”

Gemma was there for Prateek at the start…and still there to the very end.

So, after decades together, how did it all go so wrong?

How do you go from western middle-class life to homelessness in India during the COVID-19 pandemic?

How do you nearly lose your life?

The Blank Cheque has been written for the millions of people who cannot speak out about domestic abuse for fear of retribution; for the countless abandoned or abused NRI (Non-Resident Indian) brides, who, like Gemma, find themselves alone in a foreign country; and for people around the world who silently face the subtle (and not so subtle) lesser-known forms of emotional, psychological and financial abuse every day.

The invisible must be made visible.

'BLANK CHEQUE'

(Noun)

“an unlimited freedom of action”

The entitlement…

My Thoughts on The Book

The book is a mix of financial, psychological and emotional abuse. When I started reading the book, it started with a description of a dog chained and trapped to fulfill the needs of the master be it happiness or getting thrashed with the anger of the master. As I proceeded in it, I realized it is the protagonist of the story who was mistreated throughout her married life.

It feels highly painful to know that how women who travel overseas after their marriage to settle up in different countries depended on her man ending up being trapped and this book is a true example of a similar story. It is shameful to know such events still happen in our society. 

In this book, the author shows how she married a man from India and faced cross-cultural issues because no one even his husband helped her to understand the differences and respected her differences. All this lead to the sequence of unexpected events in the life of the author. In this book, the story is from the perspective of the author because she did not understand the language of her in-laws so she could not have picturized their intentions of having her as her family.

The overall experience reading the book I feel this story needs to be heard so that people understand the after effects of such events in the life of the women. It is yet haunting and threatening story with which some women fight back while others may end up their lives.

This story made me cry and feel the pain of the protagonist. Each chapter of the book speaks of grief, trauma, and injustice she went through. I do not wish to pity her, instead I wish to enlighten her for the decision she made in the end and decided to take a stand for her.

I’m participating in #TBRChallenge2023.