Title: 4/5
Story: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Overall: 4/5
Characters:
Alisha- The Protagonist
Anis- Alisha's love(the hero)
Blurb: Today every society strive for the rights of women but still women has to work hard to bring them under focus. Alisha, a burn victim whose dream to set up an office for web development broke into pieces after a sudden fire charred her body. The burns changed her looks completely. Her family supported her every time and fulfilled all her that she ever mentioned. But will the society accept and give her the same respect like other women? Will her long time love take her as his wife even after she lost her beautiful face? Is it true that love is above all other things on Earth? Can Alisha fulfil her dreams anymore?
Summary: Incandescence by Xunaira Javed is a story of Alisha, a young woman who had a long dream to set up website development company that was once shattered by the fire in her office, giving her severe burns. The way the story starts with Alisha's graduation and her lethargic manners like 'throwing the bag on the couch'. The monotony is not out of her daily habit but because of her hard work that yielded to her success. But that doesn't mean she had lost her interest in work. She was ready to step into her professional life and she had made long plans too. What she needed was the degree that would qualify her to start working. Another important highlight of the story is that Anis marries Alisha even after her face was disfigured. Love is always unconditional.
Plot: Alisha is the face of all struggling women in city lives. As a protagonist, she wins over the hearts of the readers by proving herself different from the weak minded females who lose all their hopes and cannot get back to their previous state after they are mentally broken. Alisha is a determined and hardworking women who takes every pain to established her dream. There is nothing that can achieve her dedication than her prolonged dream for success. Though she was afraid to see her own face after surgery, she had enough courage to look at the mirror. Moreover, the love of Anis for Alisha proved strong enough and Anis went against all social taboo and married a burn victim. The story has a well-knit plot and Xunaira has well interpreted the elements of all the five senses throughout the book. She maintained lucidity of the language and a smooth flow of her words. The characters in the story are well developed and the author doesn't lose her focus either from the plot or the central character.
Appreciation: The character of Alisha bridges the gap between able and disables in the society. And Anis taking Alisha as his wife changes the general acceptability the society had framed out.
Verdict: To conclude Incandescence is an interesting, simple, touching and heart-aching story; it can bring tears around the rim of your eyes, make your heart fly high in the blue and colour yourself with the hue of the rainbow.
Review by Uroosa Kashif