Burnt Sugar: A deep dark revealing tale

In A Natural History of the Senses, Diane Ackerman describes violets as smelling like "burnt sugar cubes that have been dipped in lemon and velvet".

In the All Night Sun, Diane Zinna, asks about a door "The purple door of her family’s country house—did it smell of lavender?". Colors smell: yellow has the smell of mango juice, orange smells of oranges, dark brown is the smell of coffee and blue is the smell of royalty, of class, of wealth and elegance.

It is not easy to tap into your sense of smell, especially since your eyes do all the feasting and your skin all the feeling. The eyes are the gatekeepers, they are the secretary who pretends the boss is busy if they don't like you.

I sometimes have to shut my eyes to tap into my sense of smell, for the aroma of my morning coffee to waft through. I also don’t like people who open their eyes when kissing or half-closed eyelids when sleeping. It spoils the moment, it undermines the passion, it takes away their rest.

I admire people who can smell money from afar or see trouble when it is a corner away.
If I were a bee I would be fair to every flower savoring their taste. Yet I am just a reader immersed in the beautiful tales of our generation. I admire beautiful writing. Since I stepped into the Writing Masterclass I admire beautiful openings.

Like this one :
“I would be lying if I said my mother’s misery has never given me pleasure.”

I first came across Avni Doshi’s novel Burnt Sugar – originally published in India as Girl in White Cotton – when it was shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2020.

It is a story about a troubled relationship between a mother and a daughter. So moving is the narrative, at times I felt the daughter was on the verge of self-destruction. I relished each encounter because I felt they would size each other up and get into a fight. And they did fight, not with bare knuckles but a hint of their emotions, snide remarks, and actions which though masked in the pretense of being innocent were meant to hurt each other.

If you walk to book stores, to feel the engraved cover, to smell the fresh smell of ink off the printing press, to admire the intricate design of the book covers. Don’t stop at that, pick this book which will give you all that, and you will be lost in its duvet purple cover and spend time inside the darkness of the heart-wrenching tale inside.