20

Feb

My Bookshelf

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Over the edge 

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Book Review

The cutting edge called variety 

Over the edge 

Author -    Vandana Kumari Jena

Publisher- Rupa Publications India Pvt Ltd 

Pages     - 208

Price.      - Rs.295

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About the author

Vandana Kumari Jena is a retired IAS officer of the country belonging to the 1979 batch Odisha Cadre, having served in various capacities in different ministries during her tenure.

However her hectic work schedule did not prevent her from indulging in her favourite hobby-writing.

She has written two novels, three collections of short stories a collection of poems and a collection of Middles published in almost every newspaper of the country.

Over the Edge is her ninth book that was released in the New Delhi Book Festival in 2025.

 

The cutting edge called variety 

As the blurb by Rupa Publications says on the back cover the book “ it is a collection of stories where you will find love and longing, recrimination and regrets, murder and mayhem…each story will keep you on the edge and sometimes may even take you over it.”

Having gone through most of the stories in this collection one starts wondering how much of the content is real life and how much is exaggerated fiction. But as they say, truth is stranger than fiction. 

As one flips across from Over the edge, A storm is brewing, Queen for a day,Ring of fire,Coma to the Iconoclast the variety is mind boggling.

Over the Edge by Vandana Kumari Jena, published by Rupa Publications, is a compelling collection of short stories blending love, longing, suspense, crime, and complex human emotions. A retired IAS officer from the 1979 Odisha cadre, Jena showcases remarkable narrative variety in her ninth book, released at the New Delhi Book Festival 2025.
My Bookshelf
By Amitabh Srivastava
Most stories feature strong female protagonists, though perspectives often shift to male or child narrators. The stories are crisp and fast-paced, resembling brief yet impactful stops on a journey, ideal for modern readers with limited attention spans. Themes such as adultery, incest, betrayal, and moral hypocrisy are explored boldly, challenging social taboos. From suspenseful crime in the opening story to political and social irony in “The Iconoclast,” the anthology keeps readers engrossed with its unpredictability and emotional intensity.

In most stories the protagonist is a female but in many the narrative is shared through the point of view of a male character which could be a man or a child.

The Coma, for instance, is a revelation that a young boy experiences after going through a period of Coma for two months. The way he starts looking at his own father and mother as total strangers, judging them by their looks and clothes without any emotions is scary, though surreal.

A major attraction of this collection is that the stories are short almost like anecdotes or if I can use a more figurative imagery they are like stations on a train journey where one pauses for five minutes or ten minutes and then moves on to the next. Rarely does this train stop for half an hour.

In this age of digitisation where the attention span of book readers has been restricted to only as much as they are not distracted by the next big event around them, Vandana Kumari Jena is an artiste who allows you to flip across each story without missing any flavour or emotion in this journey.

The variety, as any reader would testify, is impressive and ensures that the book is unputdownable once you open it.

That is the craft Vandana Jema has mastered.

Over the edge, the opening story for instance, is a mix of suspense, emotion, vendetta, a murder and police investigation that have been botched up. Written like a professional crime thriller, the story ends as unexpectedly as it begins. The reader has no option but to get carried over the edge of a cliff and beyond.

Despite what the Supreme Court and other Courts in the country are doing nowadays in her books and stories no emotion is taboo.

If it is adultery it is real.

Even incest is viewed as normal as an emotion that could come naturally even though civil society prohibits it.

It is not the writer's license,but a reality that we like to push under the carpet.

The very first story ‘over the edge’ sets the tone for what is to follow. A woman who describes her husband Rahul as  “nature's beloved, chiselled by the gods, groomed by its bounty and made for love” has no compunction in going to bed with her brother in law Mohit after his death, who mistakes her for his wife Aparna, her twin. Both the emotions are real and natural, the author seems to assert whatever the BNS laws may say.

Bureaucrats are expected to keep away from politics officially. But as “The Iconoclast”, the last story in this anthology, nothing stops them from exposing the popular heroes who fight for rights of Dalits in the University but gets a heart attack when his daughter chooses one for a husband. 

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