Blog Tour: Review of Side by Side by Anita Kushwaha

Author: Anita Kushwaha

Publisher: Inanna Publications

Date of publication: November 2018

Kavita Gupta is a woman in transition. When her troubled older brother, Sunil, disappears, she does everything in her power to find him, convinced that she can save him. Ten days later, the police arrive at her door to inform her that Sunil’s body has been found. Her world is devastated. She finds herself in crisis mode, trying to keep the pieces of her life from falling apart even more. As she tries to cope with her loss, the support system around her begins to unravel. Her parents’ uneasy marriage seems more precarious. Her health is failing as her unprocessed trauma develops into more sinister conditions. Her marriage suffers as her husband is unable to relate to her loss. She bears her burden alone, but after hitting her lowest point, she knows she needs to find a better way of coping. Desperate for connection, she reaches out to a bereavement group, where she meets Hawthorn, a free-spirited young man with whom she discovers a deep connection through pain. After being blindsided by a devastating marital betrayal, she wonders if a fresh start is possible in the wake of tragedy. Will she escape her problems and start over? Or will she face the challenges of rebuilding the life she already has? Side by Side is a story about loss, growth and the search for meaning in the wake of tragedy, illuminated through one woman’s journey from harm to care.

 Side by Side is the story of one woman's journey through grief after losing her brother to suicide.  One thing I will say before you read this book is have some tissues ready.  I had a hard time sticking with this book at times. It's not a very happy read. Having said that, I did end up liking the book in the end.  It was an honest look at how personal grief can be and how it affects everyone differently.  Kavita isn't the only one who deals with  the loss of Sunil.  Each person directly affected has a different reaction.  I actually found her husband's admissions toward the end to be the one that hit me the hardest.  I loved how it ended because it was a reflection on real life.  Nothing was neatly tied up in a pretty box but there was a sense of healing and life moving on; as it always does.

The story is beautifully written, raw and honest.  There may be some triggers for suicide and mental health, so keep that in mind.  I do recommend checking it out.  I am looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.

Purchase Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Chapters/Indigo

About Anita Kushwaha

Anita Kushwaha grew up in Aylmer, Quebec. Her road to publication included a fulfilling career in academia, where she studied human geography at Carleton University and earned an M.A. and a Ph.D. She is also a graduate of the Humber School for Writers creative writing program. Her first novel, Side by Side, won an Independent Publisher Book Awards Silver Medal for Multicultural Fiction in 2019. She is also the author of a novella, The Escape Artist. Her second novel, Caught in a Lie, will be published in January 2020 by HarperCollins Canada. She lives in Ottawa.

Find out more about Anita at her website, and connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

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