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So All Is Peace
But sit down, breathe deep, and ask a woman. Any woman. They are there.
When twin sisters Layla and Tanya are found starving in their upmarket apartment, there is frenzy in the media. How often does one find two striking, twenty-something women, one half-dead, the other not speaking, living in a state of disrepair and chaos, for no apparent reason? Theories about them are rampant, but disillusioned journalist Raman is loath to follow the story. That is, until Tanya begins to talk to him, and the darker truth behind the sisters' lives starts to unravel.
A richly atmospheric, deeply claustrophobic story with a stunning denouement, of two women confronting the everyday realities of their city and country, So All Is Peace provides an unflinching insight into love, lust, fear, grief, and the decisions we make, through a cast of sharply drawn characters brought together by an unspoken wrong.
When twin sisters Layla and Tanya are found starving in their upmarket apartment, there is frenzy in the media. How often does one find two striking, twenty-something women, one half-dead, the other not speaking, living in a state of disrepair and chaos, for no apparent reason? Theories about them are rampant, but disillusioned journalist Raman is loath to follow the story. That is, until Tanya begins to talk to him, and the darker truth behind the sisters' lives starts to unravel.
A richly atmospheric, deeply claustrophobic story with a stunning denouement, of two women confronting the everyday realities of their city and country, So All Is Peace provides an unflinching insight into love, lust, fear, grief, and the decisions we make, through a cast of sharply drawn characters brought together by an unspoken wrong.
420 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 2019
1 person is currently reading
152 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 15, 2020
What a book! The saddest thing is mine was only the 20th rating of this book on Goodreads, I am really not sure why!
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#theguywiththebookreview presents So All Is Peace by Vandana Singh-Lal
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This is such a slow burn but it goes up in flames in the last quarter and how! Absolutely loved the writing which in many places glows with insightful streams of thoughts. (Some feel like rants, but are absolutely welcome)
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A set of identical twins are discovered at their home starving to death. Fully grown women who weigh 18 and 20 kgs. This creates a media frenzy (the type that India is infamous for churning up) and the whole country is ready with popcorns and pakodas.
.
Both are submitted into ICU and in comes an even more intriguing (and troubled) journalist who gets obsessed with the case.
.
A great insight into the mentality of the rich, So All Is Peace is extremely claustrophobic at places and atmospheric. A great generalized commentary on Indian society as well.
.
Vandana Singh-Lal expertly handles alternating chapters (First person for one of the twins and All knowing narrator for the Journalist) and paces the novel in a way that can only create more intrigue with each chapter.
.
This is a thriller in disguise, one which I’d recommend you pick up, and soon!
.
#theguywiththebookreview presents So All Is Peace by Vandana Singh-Lal
.
This is such a slow burn but it goes up in flames in the last quarter and how! Absolutely loved the writing which in many places glows with insightful streams of thoughts. (Some feel like rants, but are absolutely welcome)
.
A set of identical twins are discovered at their home starving to death. Fully grown women who weigh 18 and 20 kgs. This creates a media frenzy (the type that India is infamous for churning up) and the whole country is ready with popcorns and pakodas.
.
Both are submitted into ICU and in comes an even more intriguing (and troubled) journalist who gets obsessed with the case.
.
A great insight into the mentality of the rich, So All Is Peace is extremely claustrophobic at places and atmospheric. A great generalized commentary on Indian society as well.
.
Vandana Singh-Lal expertly handles alternating chapters (First person for one of the twins and All knowing narrator for the Journalist) and paces the novel in a way that can only create more intrigue with each chapter.
.
This is a thriller in disguise, one which I’d recommend you pick up, and soon!
April 15, 2020
Digesting emotions from a clinical perspective is an arduous task, but a deeply revealing one. Although it appears strange and rather inhumane to analyse feelings, and extreme ones at that, from a cool, detached outlook, but the results are always eye-opening. Death, for example, is always spoken about in terms of extremes. On one end of the rather presumptively bleak and dark rainbow is hysteria and fear, with a clamour to avoid the unknown. The other end of the spectrum is one of unabashed acceptance of the inevitable and unbridled joy. Here’s where the clinical approach stands out. Death is simply that. Death. End of a life. No joy, no fear, no other emotion. Understanding this might make change the context in which one approaches life itself.
Vandana has done a fantastic job taking on this role of filtering her narrative for wild emotions. Through contrasting protagonists, generally devoid of an emotional compass, this haunting book left me thinking about the banality of everyday life in the larger scheme of things, and surprisingly, the stupidity of the larger picture when viewed from the microscope of a person’s daily struggle. The premise of the book, laid out in an unconvoluted manner from the first word, is simple, disturbing and downright appalling to any average human being. When does a means become an end to itself? Why would anyone pursue a means, just for the sake of it? Why would a set of twins starve themselves, knowing that they would die if they did, but not wanting to die? This question honestly messed with my head, but the further I got into the book, the more I realised the answer. Coping.
That’s something we all do, right? Cope. Cope with issues, and situations, and people. Coping with a rather grotesque objective in mind is unconventional, but yet practiced more often than one would imagine. People engaging in physical self-harm is a cliched yet direct example. This pivots me towards the other beautiful pathos evoked by this work. The excruciating pain and detail of literally each second of our life, and the unforgiving cruel numbness we, and everyone around us, extends to it. The book has several beautiful instances that detail the same and vividly present the argument, I would like to digress slightly and cite an example from another work I read recently. I do so to spare the potential reader the thrill of discovering them for themselves. In his powerful book advocating for safe and adequate sleeping habits Why We Sleep, Matthew Walker stings you with a fact posed as a gut-wrenching question. Would you let a surgeon operate on you after having two glasses of whiskey? Well, if you, like the rest of the sane world who answered no, you’re in for a horrifying surprise. Apparently, sleeping for six hours a night (one less than the lower end of the average range) for a week puts one in the same state as a couple of glasses of Whiskey. Isn’t that a delightfully frightening thought? But the banality of normal day life has trivialized the same to an extent that a young doctor managing to sleep six hours a night is considered extremely lucky. I apologise for drifting, but perhaps that sums up this argument perfectly. Discussing the minute issues of daily life is considered drifting, while the larger picture is what we fight for. Macroeconomists across the globe just raised a toast.
As I wrapped up the last page of this book, I turned it over and stared at its title again. So All is Peace. Indeed so, but then, what is peace?
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-_hN5ygg...
Vandana has done a fantastic job taking on this role of filtering her narrative for wild emotions. Through contrasting protagonists, generally devoid of an emotional compass, this haunting book left me thinking about the banality of everyday life in the larger scheme of things, and surprisingly, the stupidity of the larger picture when viewed from the microscope of a person’s daily struggle. The premise of the book, laid out in an unconvoluted manner from the first word, is simple, disturbing and downright appalling to any average human being. When does a means become an end to itself? Why would anyone pursue a means, just for the sake of it? Why would a set of twins starve themselves, knowing that they would die if they did, but not wanting to die? This question honestly messed with my head, but the further I got into the book, the more I realised the answer. Coping.
That’s something we all do, right? Cope. Cope with issues, and situations, and people. Coping with a rather grotesque objective in mind is unconventional, but yet practiced more often than one would imagine. People engaging in physical self-harm is a cliched yet direct example. This pivots me towards the other beautiful pathos evoked by this work. The excruciating pain and detail of literally each second of our life, and the unforgiving cruel numbness we, and everyone around us, extends to it. The book has several beautiful instances that detail the same and vividly present the argument, I would like to digress slightly and cite an example from another work I read recently. I do so to spare the potential reader the thrill of discovering them for themselves. In his powerful book advocating for safe and adequate sleeping habits Why We Sleep, Matthew Walker stings you with a fact posed as a gut-wrenching question. Would you let a surgeon operate on you after having two glasses of whiskey? Well, if you, like the rest of the sane world who answered no, you’re in for a horrifying surprise. Apparently, sleeping for six hours a night (one less than the lower end of the average range) for a week puts one in the same state as a couple of glasses of Whiskey. Isn’t that a delightfully frightening thought? But the banality of normal day life has trivialized the same to an extent that a young doctor managing to sleep six hours a night is considered extremely lucky. I apologise for drifting, but perhaps that sums up this argument perfectly. Discussing the minute issues of daily life is considered drifting, while the larger picture is what we fight for. Macroeconomists across the globe just raised a toast.
As I wrapped up the last page of this book, I turned it over and stared at its title again. So All is Peace. Indeed so, but then, what is peace?
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-_hN5ygg...
January 17, 2020
What a sensational debut by Vandana Singh Lal! 'So All is Peace" will shake your mind and force you to think. Story about starving twin sisters shows the dark side of our 'modern' society. The novel touches many aspects of our social life especially women's life. From the mention of the technology - through social media that we use to stay connected or pretend to do so as in reality we are disconnected, to the rules and norms set by RWAs (for women) in the garb of protecting our culture and moral values of the society, the attitude towards woman staying alone or as generally perceived 'not under the shelter of a man', fakeness of neighbours, bullying the weak and vulnerable, the questions only for women if something goes wrong such as why was she late at night or why was wearing a revealing dress? - the novel is a vivid description of our society. The story of twin sisters shows how the Indian women have to fight at every step for their survival, for their dignity but eventually have to retreat to their small world (in most cases). We give our daughters good education, good environment, aim for a good carrier, the best that one can give, but have to face the dark reality about women's safety once they step out of their protected environment and this is so true for Delhi. I could relate to that 10-15mins of mental pressure that I ho through when my daughter goes out to buy stationary from local market. This is so truly reflected when after their parents death one of the twin sister is groped first time when she goes out to buy vegetables. The reason that we develop amazing techniques of using our hands and elbows to protect our body in crowd. The novel touched me emotionally, felt the loneliness and the vulnerability of the two sisters when left alone without family. While reading the novel, there were so many incidents which I could relate to. How easy to find bad things in others- when mother says "you know, a place where people die forgotten inside their own homes can't be that much of a paradise? Another excerpt from novel "The sisters or sister, who knows which is which and who does what- were living morally. If women lose their morality, society loses its morality. We could not let them continue like that could we? It is different for a man, yaar. Nobody asks which vessels he has eaten from and who he brings home when his wife is not around, hain-ji?"
Well done Vandana and Congratulations again 🤗🤗👌👌
Well done Vandana and Congratulations again 🤗🤗👌👌
January 27, 2020
It is a moving story backed by extremely powerful writing. It is a difficult book to slot but in terms of its deep, intelligent evocation of a fast paced but deeply introspective horror, it seems to be like a mixture of some of my favourite authors - Lionel Shriver, Julia Phillips, Alice Munro and strangely Johnathan Franzen! It is a book that has the beginning of becoming a cult classic with writing that seethes with emotions. eg "You too have thrown your emotions up in the air hoping that it will coalesce and condense and come down as rain to bathe you with its tranquil, rejoicing coolness. But what if the rain that actually comes down is acidic? What if it is so corrosive that it reaches in and chars your heart?" or this: "His entire thin, slightly curved body was in synchrony then like a taut perfectly tuned violin string, alive and strumming to the pleasure that he got out of it. " There are so many such beautifully wrought sentences that I have started rereading the book to make sure that I miss nothing!
December 27, 2019
An engrossing novel - fiction in the background of facts. No Fakeness. One could read the author’s personal politics protesting against the social Milieu characterised by patriarchy, neo-liberalism, consumerism and class-caste discriminations- a protest piercing human consciousness. The book is a protest. Absolutely well written. Must read.
January 1, 2020
I am a frequent traveler to India. I picked up So All Is Peace by a debutant author on a whim and the book has caught me by surprise. I have had one of the best reading experiences that I have had in a very long time. It has provided me insight into India at an emotional level. I feel for the two sisters. I can't believe that it is by a debut author. Very confident writing and a book that haunts you. Amazing, deeply moving book. Highly recommend it.
March 22, 2020
A well-crafted thriller with no fake promises rendered.
With an interesting plot, Vandana Singh-Lal explores the tribulations confronted by twin-sisters in a male-centered society with a wrap of sisterly love and tangled emotions.
Though, the pace of the narration often gets strangled with few instances of being trawled and with some plodding outlines, SO ALL IS PEACE endures the hurdles with its riveting and confident style of steering of the plot ahead.
With an interesting plot, Vandana Singh-Lal explores the tribulations confronted by twin-sisters in a male-centered society with a wrap of sisterly love and tangled emotions.
Though, the pace of the narration often gets strangled with few instances of being trawled and with some plodding outlines, SO ALL IS PEACE endures the hurdles with its riveting and confident style of steering of the plot ahead.
December 23, 2019
I am still trying to come to terms with what I have read. I was looking forward to the book after reading the excerpt about a week back and it more than meets my expectations. I have not read many books like this based in India that tick so many emotional and intellectual boxes. After "God of Small Things", this is one novel that really touched me while also making me think. Superb.
May 8, 2020
I don't even know where to start. This book has left me shaken. I could not put down the book till I reached the last page. The style of the writing and the content is mind-boggling. You want to reread the book to grasp all those beautiful lines and expressions. Go read this book if you have to read only one book this year. It is worth it.
November 3, 2020
There are few books which don't fulfil your expectations, in a positive way, leaves you blank at the end, making you ponder over what it did to you. SO All Is Peace was this kind of a book for me. I solely bought this book because of it's cover. But surely it didn't disappoint me.
SO All Is Peace is a story of twin sisters, Layla and Tanya whom you'll met in Paris in the 1st chapter but later will be find both of them in an apartment of Delhi, starving, two grown women weighing 18kgs and 20 kgs, becoming the sensation of the town with one of them being half dead and the other not speaking.
It's lucid language, thick and insightful narration, the way the theme of the book kept evolving was a-h-m-a-z-i-n-g, the way author has displayed the stream of thoughts through one of the sisters was incredible and just won my heart. Honestly, I didn't expect a debut work to be this mature, I've read several dubut books only this year and this was one of the best I read, for sure.
It's not a review neither I wanted it to be one. It's just a collection of words which may compel you to read this book. I went blind for it, without reading any review or description and want you to do the same. Let this book surprise you throughly.
I really don't know why this book is so underrated.
SO All Is Peace is a story of twin sisters, Layla and Tanya whom you'll met in Paris in the 1st chapter but later will be find both of them in an apartment of Delhi, starving, two grown women weighing 18kgs and 20 kgs, becoming the sensation of the town with one of them being half dead and the other not speaking.
It's lucid language, thick and insightful narration, the way the theme of the book kept evolving was a-h-m-a-z-i-n-g, the way author has displayed the stream of thoughts through one of the sisters was incredible and just won my heart. Honestly, I didn't expect a debut work to be this mature, I've read several dubut books only this year and this was one of the best I read, for sure.
It's not a review neither I wanted it to be one. It's just a collection of words which may compel you to read this book. I went blind for it, without reading any review or description and want you to do the same. Let this book surprise you throughly.
I really don't know why this book is so underrated.
May 6, 2020
A dark and deeply disturbing story, written beautifully. While the descriptive nature of the writing felt slow at some points in the beginning, the story flowed seamlessly and I found myself getting drawn into every life in the story and getting more and more frustrated only to feel completely heartbroken at end. The story will definitely stick with me.
January 23, 2024
This is one of the best books I have read about women in contemporary India. The way the middle class in India operates and the inner lives of educated women in the country is brought out in a story that is extremely thought provoking. But it is also a compelling, beautifully written story full of twists and turns that had me reading at such a pace that I finished the book in just a couple of days. I cannot recommend the book enough to anybody interested in contemporary India. Excellent book!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews