Book Review: When Darkness Falls

When Darkness Falls by Ruskin Bond is a collection of 13 short stories full of love, loss and supernatural themes. The stories are set in the hills of Mussoorie and Dehradun - the City of Love.

Book Blurb on Amazon

A superb storyteller who keeps his readers in thrall’—Statesman.

In When Darkness Falls, Ruskin Bond emerges yet again as a master storyteller: A deceptively effortless style, an eye for the extraordinary in seemingly humdrum lives and a deep empathy with his characters—even when they belong to the supernatural realm. We meet the war veteran Markham whose deformation ends in tragedy; Susanna, the merry widow who loved each of her seven husbands to death and Kundan Singh, the reckless rake whom women find irresistible. There are also fascinating stories from the author’s childhood, about the eccentric characters and memorable animals of old Dehradun.

Told with Bond’s classic wit, these charming stories will enchant and delight in equal measure.

My Thoughts on The Book

It is a well-written and enjoyable collection of short stories. It is the second book of Ruskin Bond that I have picked and I can’t deny the charm of his writing and taking you in the world of his stories. When I started reading this book I was skeptical to choose this book but as soon as the moved to the stories further I realized this was the need to uplift my mood and bringing me back to my reading journey after the rush of emotions I was going through.

I wish to highlight following points about the book:

• The author is a great story-teller and the way he has set the background of each story is fantastic.

• The best part is the book has 13 stories and each of them has a different theme, they will make you laugh until your stomach hurts, cry, be optimistic, fall in love and many more.

• The stories that I liked the most are:

1. Young Man In A Tonga: It saddened me a little but it is damn a good short story.

2. Susanna’s Seven Husbands - It is amusing to find the cause of death of each husband that made her marry seven times.

3. Monkey Trouble - It was the most funny tale out of all, I don’t wish to give a spoiler so let me just say as the name itself tell you who the center character is.

• Also, the writing style of the author is so full of twists that it was difficult to guess the next part until I reached the end of the story.

• The stories have a touch of nostalgia with a sense of attachment.

• It is a sweet and bitter collection of stories transporting you to a different world that appears similar as mentioned above, the stories are set around Dehradun and the hills of Mussoorie.

I will recommend this book to those who wish to start their reading journey, who love reading short stories and is a dire fan of the author Ruskin Bond.

I’m participating in #TBRChallenge2023