Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
‘The Sky Husband’ by Easterine Kire is a collection of eight short stores steeped in folklore, magical realism, romance, and life in north-east India.
The first story is perhaps the most interesting tale in the book, set somewhere in lost time, in a small village, where a young woman dreams of a ‘Sky Husband’, a dashing, handsome man who promises to marry her when the time comes. Legend has it, only rare few women have the privilege of being whisked away to a happily ever after by these mysterious men from perhaps another realm. The details are unclear. The belief? Quite deep.
Another tale in the book is on similar lines, it’s about a man being spirited away by a forest fairy, only to be found in a emaciated state years later, by when his family was convinced he died in the jungles. It’s a bizarre, fantastical romance, where one cannot draw a line between what’s real and what’s not.
Easterine Kire sparingly uses magical realism in this collection, akin to the way popular Japanese author Haruki Murakami uses it in Sputnik Sweetheart. And if you haven’t read Murakami, that’s all right, just keep your expectations modest when it comes to fantasy or magical elements in ‘The Sky Husband’.
Only these two stories that contained elements of folklore and magical realism held some charm, the other tales are borderline boring despite their rich settings. For instance, one story follows an old couple reminiscing their experiences as young rebels training in the forests for guerilla warfare. What could’ve been a vivid, memorable recollection, turns to be a pale mirror of a forgotten past that is conjured weakly in prose.
The last two tales in the novel are romances which seem inter-connected at first, but turn out to be quite different and disjointed. I lost interest in both stories half-way and had to push myself to finish them. It’s almost like the author forced that last tale into the collection so that the book could be decent-sized.
Overall, ‘The Sky Husband’ turned out to be a underwhelming collection of random short stories. But it’s a quick read that takes the reader to different eras and places. If you’re looking for stories from the North-East, with a slight touch of romance, maybe it could prove to be worth your time.
Rating for ‘The Sky Husband’: 3 on 5 stars.
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