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Poornima Manco
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Intersections: A Novel (The Friendship Collection) Kindle Edition

by Poornima Manco (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 59 ratings
See all formats and editions

Four friends. Four decades. One devastating betrayal.


Twenty years ago, a stunning deception forced the lives of four young girls to spiral in different directions. Four girls who had taken their friendship and their place in the world for granted.

Pari, who longed to fit in; Samira, who craved a mother’s love; Roma, who pined for one boy; and Madhu, who strove to overcome her circumstances. Four friends who were inseparable, their lives enmeshed, their fates intertwined. Until a series of cataclysmic events tore them apart.

Two decades later, they are face to face again. Can they forgive and move on? Or will one person's secret vendetta destroy them all?

Emotionally layered and richly imagined, Intersections raises profound questions about love, loss, forgiveness, and the deeply complex nature of female friendships.

Reader's comments:

** The author aptly captures the nuances of the female psyche -- the uncertainty of self, the jealousy of others, the fear of rejection, the glossy thrill of first love, the underlying hatred behind a youthful giggle. The prose is eloquent and visceral, and the intricacies of their intersections of friendships are a curious blend of happenstance and fate. **

** An exceptional storyline about four friends, their secrets, betrayal and revenge. Great characterisation with the flawless writing style. I was hugely impressed with the depth and interweaving of plot lines, how expertly the author handles the multiple threads and how well she captures the range of relationships and dynamics between family and friends. **

** The author did a lovely job of weaving these girls’ then women's’ lives together from teen years through their forties. I particularly liked her exploration of how many of the wounds we carry are often imagined or self-inflicted, or even delivered by an indifferent fate, rather than attributed to anyone in particular. **

Previous page
  1. Part of series
    The Friendship Collection
  2. Print length
    416 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    July 4, 2022
  6. File size
    2106 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

'Richly written, thought-provoking and utterly compelling. Highly recommended!'
- The Wishing Shelf

For me, a good book, a really good book, needs a hook. Not a complicated hook, just a simple hook pulling me into the story. And this novel by Poornima Manco has it. Can four women, destroyed by betrayal, ever forgive? I like that; it interested me. So, I curled up on the sofa with a glass of wine and read on...
From the opening - and very powerfully written - first chapter, this is a compelling narrative. The plot is cleverly constructed, the settings are splendidly described, and the pacing is, for the most part, spot on. In terms of writing style, the author's very talented. She works well with speech, and she knows when to keep a sentence short; this is not an author who's fallen into the trap of purple prose.
In this story, the author is exploring four very different characters, Pari, Samira, Roma and Madhu. And it is in this respect that she is very talented. She knows all her characters, even the secondary, very well, and this shows in the individual way they act.There is a lot of self- discovery going on and, I must say, it is very well- written. It can get a little drawn out here and there, slowing the pacing slightly. But, overall, it's insightful and very much helps the reader to not only understand the characters, but also start to care about what happens to them. In many ways, this is a character study. And, in every way, it is a compelling read.
So now to the important bit. Who is this novel for? Well, if you enjoy a tense story with strong characterization and a little depth, Intersections is very much for you. It's the sort of book that stays with you after you finished it; the sort of book you discuss over coffee and recommend to others.
I always like to end with a 'what struck me the most' comment. Well, 'what struck me the most' about this novel was the author's knowledge of character. She knows the ́literary novel ́ genre very, VERY well and this shows in the depth of the characters she created.
Enjoy!
A 'Wishing Shelf' Book Review

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0B4HQ7YC5
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mango Tree Publications (July 4, 2022)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 4, 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2106 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 59 ratings

About the author

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Poornima Manco

Poornima Manco

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Poornima is an award-winning novelist whose short stories have been published in The Guardian and The Telegraph newspapers in the UK. Born and raised in India, she still retains a deep connection to her motherland, which reflects in all her stories and books. Poornima lives in the UK with her family.

If you'd like to sample her writing, follow this link: https://www.poornimamanco.com/free/

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
59 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A haunting piece of women’s fiction
Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2023
Verified Purchase
I opened this book later around 9 in the evening, thinking I’d read for a couple of chapters before bed. At 2 in the morning I finished the story. The author did a lovely job of weaving these girls’ then women's’ lives together from teen years through their forties. I particularly liked her exploration of how many of the wounds we carry are often imagined or self-inflicted, or even delivered by an indifferent fate, rather than attributed to anyone in particular.. I will be picking up more of Ms Manco’s books!
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HarmonyV
4.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written and human entre into contemporary Indian culture
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2022
This book is extremely well written. The author has a wonderful skill of flow and dialogue. She weaves this intricate plot in a forward linear motion despite a very difficult structure of four alternating viewpoints and still kept me engaged throughout. I found I read the book quickly and enjoyed it, as each of the four characters was well developed and so well written that I could find a bit of myself in each of them, despite this being largely about Indian culture and relationships. Beyond all the Indian nicknames, food, clothing and other Indian cultural references, it's just a very human story. Poornima Manco is a gifted writer who has honed her craft.

I only found two typos in the entire book.

All the nicknames for family members were very confusing in the beginning and many times I had to go back and recheck which character I was reading to figure out who they were talking about. Often I still couldn't figure it out because one character would refer to their own parents one way, but someone else's parent with a different diminutive. This would not be so hard if there was only one POV, but there were four! After a while I just started skipping over the names and hoping I'd catch on. Luckily after the first part, the family nicknames dropped off.

It was a great read because the author is so gifted in her craft. But my problem with this book, and why I'm not giving it the full five stars, is the same problem I have with a lot of contemporary novels. The book didn't seem to have a point, or a higher message or anything at all. I found the ending very jarring, I didn't understand it and the book ended feeling like well, life sucks so, yeah. It is my opinion that stories like these, no matter how well-written, will not endure. She has such a gift for writing. I just wish she knew what she was writing about.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
One person found this helpful
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CheekyChiquita
5.0 out of 5 stars A gripping tale of loss, grief, forgiveness, regret, and womanhood -- must-read!
Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2022
This was an epic, gripping women's fiction that takes you through decades of friendship -- and frenemy-ship -- as it recounts the family lives of four young girls as they mature into womanhood. Opening with a tragic event, the reader is left in the dark trying to piece together why it will eventually happen and to whom.

Told from four different points of view, we get an in-depth look at the inner workings of the minds of each of these complex characters, and it was fascinating to gain that insight. I especially loved the genuine friendship that blossoms between Pari and Madhu in their later years as adults, which was a stark difference from the girlish bond between Pari and Samira. My favourite character, though, was the legendary -- and deeply misunderstood -- Samira, who bears the burden of beauty and wealth coupled with an emptiness she can never overcome. Her story is an emotional gut-punch -- as is Madhu's, whose rising stardom crumbles to ashes due to circumstances beyond her control.

The author aptly captures the nuances of the female psyche -- the uncertainty of self, the jealousy of others, the fear of rejection, the glossy thrill of first love, the underlying hatred behind a youthful giggle. The prose is eloquent and visceral, and the intricacies of their intersections of friendships are a curious blend of happenstance and fate. The story unfolds with a deep, thought-provoking insight into the most overwhelming of emotions that we all someday face: loss, grief, forgiveness, and regret. It is also an atmospheric tale that transports you to its key location of Delhi, India, with a sprinkling of authenticity in the language and the sense of community and family among its characters. I also particularly appreciated the -- often unexplored -- aspect of a woman's life (and in particular, an Indian woman's life) that achieves success, fulfillment, and peace within oneself without the necessity of a romantic relationship with a man or the societal requirement to bear children.

With so much to love here, it's hard to pick apart for flaws. Usually with stories that span decades, I find issues with pacing, and here it does admittedly start off a tad slow at the very beginning. However, this is necessary in this case, as it focuses on the initiation and blossoming of these friendships as children, before leaping to the present when the main characters reunite as middle-aged women. The leisurely unraveling of each character pulls you in, exquisitely carving them out in all their raw and flawed youthful naïveté, and it was a joy to relish in the novel's journey.

Overall, this is a timeless tale that will resonate with readers -- particularly, women readers -- everywhere. We can all see a little of ourselves in each of these girls, and our own painful pasts in the tragedies they face. Though we know this group's friendship is somehow doomed from the beginning, there is always a flutter of hope that something survives that impending collision at the intersection of life. I truly enjoyed this novel and am happy to recommend it to others, and I look forward to the next one from this author.
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Hollene Gustafsson
5.0 out of 5 stars Complex Woman Relationships
Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2022
I absolutely loved "Intersections:A Novel", Poornima Manco's best and most complex work. It takes us on an emotional and complicated ride through four young girls lives all the way up to adulthood. The deeply complex relationships between all four woman, their social standings, the life circumstances each has, interwoven between them all. Pari, Madhu, Samira, and Roma's lives are interconnected through friendship, betrayal, love, heartbreak, jealousy, and tragedy. They need each other, but it is far from easy, hard to forgive and forget. The book took me on a very emotional read, my heart breaking for these young women, so much completely out of their control as they try and navigate both their friendships and life in general. It's a beautiful book, well written, full of emotional highs and lows.
I received an ARC, my review is completely my own thoughts on this book.
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Top reviews from other countries

An Alberta Reader
3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
Reviewed in Canada on March 19, 2023
Verified Purchase
This novel has many engaging features, such as an authentically presented feeling of the various lifestyles, social levels, and settings in India. I loved the assorted terms of endearment used between the families and friends, which surprised me because I thought I’d get confused, but instead it added flavour. I would rate this aspect of the novel at a five out of five. The characters were also well-delineated; even the minor characters were consistent with their roles. The four girls were, through the years, believable and dynamic. What was disappointing to me was an aspect which likely is appealing to most readers: POV where each character speaks in her own voice and section. To me it seems like a lazy way of writing. While it enables the reader to see into that character, it also denies us the ability to figure out her motives from her actions, words, etc; we are told what to think because of her thoughts. The four main characters become diary writers and we, the reader, are just along for the ride. I realize that most people enjoy this method, and it is certainly very popular in contemporary novels. The other objection is that as time moves on through the women’s lives, particularly toward the latter chapters, we are tossed into sudden changes that are connected yet somehow feel more like reports than smooth development. I was not surprised by the “revelations”; they did not feel like any grand deception or betrayal the characters made them out to be, and then the endless explanation of “life” at the end. Why do writers feel they have to explain and philosophize for their readers, as if we are not wise enough to draw our own conclusions?
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Jeannette
5.0 out of 5 stars Good read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 4, 2023
Verified Purchase
Read it in one day.
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