The Reviews
FIVE STARS REVIEWS ON AMAZON.COM
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5.0 out of 5 stars Passion, love -- and strength
Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2022
It was a rainy long weekend, and I settled in with the book The Forbidden Letters. I found myself immersed in the traditional India of the 1920s. It was almost like I could hear the sounds of India, smell the incense and curry, see the colors of saris, and I awaited anxiously, as I turned the pages of the book, for the next letter delivery to reveal more of the passion and lives of two lovers. Indeed, when I was called away from my reading, I was almost surprised to find myself back in the world of 2022.
This love story – of passion, friendship, family bonds, hardships, and sorrows – is also a story told in an exchange of letters (more than 500; 200 in this book) of a couple (Pran and Rai) betrothed in an arranged marriage (she at age 13, he at age 18) and who, for educational and family reasons, were often apart. The letters written over a decade let us follow the development of love and passion within this arranged marriage, the frustrations of not being allowed to express that passion (hence this secret exchange of letters), the difficulties of being a “daughter-in-law” in a traditional family where the mother-in-law held reign. In the final letters in the book, I cheered for Pran (the wife) as she struggled against demands to return to domestic duties i(n her mother-in-law’s house) after a difficult childbirth and later as she asserts her claim over her children.
This would be a book that I think this would be an excellent choice for a book club. It opens up to so many dimensions: India before independence, the power struggles in an extended family, the “politics” of arranged marriages., the expression of passion and love, and of course, the role of women. The letters in the bookend in the 1930s. But clearly, there is another book to be written: the story of how Pran and Rai, raised and constrained in many ways by traditional customs and values, were determined to establish their own family values that put the education of their children (boys and girls) foremost, and how they developed open communication within their family where children were free to express opinions and follow their own dreams As evidence of that is their daughter Hemu, the author, who has led an incredibly productive and creative life as a graphic designer, artist, writer and more. Her explanations of the historical and cultural references in the letter added immensely to the reading.
As a former college professor, I seldom – if ever—gave an A+ to student papers, and though I have reviewed a few books, I have, as of yet, not given 5-stars, but in this case, I will break my pattern and would rate this as a 5-star.
-Frances Boylston
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 2, 2023
Culturally informative Forbidden Letters details a woman's life in an arranged marriage. Her marriage turns out to be a caring and loving relationship. The reader follows her as she nurtures her children to be successful participants in society. It is a quick read because of its epistolary format. Besides being a fascinating adventure, Forbidden Letters is a learning experience.
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A moving love and passion story
I meant to get into The Forbidden Letters: A True Story, a week ago, but was unable to at the time. I started reading it tonight and am having difficulty putting this one down! And I have to be up early in the morning! I have no doubt this one will be a fast read for me, as I can't wait to dive back into it. This is a great one.
I surely will post a review as soon as I'm done reading it. This is a great one, for sure. I may even buy the paperback version to put on my shelf for friends and family to see and most likely ask if they can borrow it to read. They always take the great ones, and I rarely ever see them returned!
Pepper Anne
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A wonderful love story told in letters
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 11, 2022
I just started reading this book. So far, I have found it intriguing. The letters are amazing. The letters and the author's inclusion of historical facts along the way give you great insight into the history of India. The letters are a love story. I will give a review when I finish it.
Darlene Maslek Colaianni June 22, 2022
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A window into a forgotten time--deeply moving
Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2022
The story of Pran and Rai is one of hardship and triumph over adversity. It's hard to imagine being married so young and being separated. Life in India under the British Raj was restrictive and filled with challenges. Lots of fiction is based on the gambit of found letters. These are letters that are real! The characters' hearts are opened without reservation. A very moving book.
Annette June 20, 2022
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Forbidden, taboo, and mesmerizing
Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2022
A never-before-told story of two teenagers who fell in love in early 1900s India.
Love, long-distance hardship, family insights, heart-wrenching moments, and overall deep insight can be gleamed about arranged marriages. An interesting read to say the least!
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Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2022
I truly enjoyed the journey of Pran and Rai, learning even more about their eventful and pivotal life than I ever knew before.
Anita Dey, June 5, 2022
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It is An engaging love story from the past.
Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2022
During the rule of the Muslim leader, Nawab Muhammed Mahabit Khanji III, Pran, 13 years old, and Rai, 18, are engaged by their parents. Rai's mother sees Pran as a young child and later as a teenager and feels drawn to her big brown eyes and soft smile. She arranges the engagement through a relative, and the teens meet for the first time at their wedding. Their letters, unearthed in an attic, tell their love story.
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I highly recommend this intriguing book!
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 5, 2022
I was honored to receive a review copy of The Forbidden Letters from the author, Hemu Aggarwal. I found her work to be a fascinating and illuminating study of culture, customs, and human behavior one hundred years ago.
I felt like a voyeur reading the letters and Pram and Rai’s exchanges of their most intimate thoughts. I appreciated coming to understand the circumstances of their arranged marriage and the rituals and traditions surrounding this marriage and married life. I was amazed at the level of support they offered each other through the letters. The process of each stating their views and the negotiations of how they saw their roles and power (or lack thereof) within the joint family structure were enlightening.
I chucked at the universal similarity in the “mother-in-law” relationship and the question of the newborn infant sleeping it the parents’ bed.
I thought I knew a little about the culture and customs of being Indian, but through this wonderful book, I gained a greater understanding of and respect for this complex society.
In one of Rai’s letters, he writes, “Sometimes the sun shines, and other times there is shade.” I found this wise statement from an eighteen-year-old boy to be quite comforting and calming.
I highly recommend The Forbidden Letters by Hemu Aggarwal!
—Pat Spencer, author of Story of a Stolen Girl July 2, 2022
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Julie Wilder-Sherman, Petaluma
Passionate, Heartbreaking, and True
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 8, 2022
I have just finished reading "The Forbidden Letters" by Hemu Aggarwal. Wow. This nonfiction work is an honest, authentic look at the lives of two young lovers in India between the years of 1923 and 1931. An arranged marriage of 13-year-old Pran and 18-year-old Rai starts the story, as these two "children" find their way to a mature love during 8 years of separation with little time together -- just enough, it seems, to explore each other physically and make babies. They are after all, teenagers, and young love is incredibly intense during these years.
Their relationship develops through 8 years of letter-writing. The young lovers describe their heated passion for each other in veiled language, careful not to step over the line with raw or coarse words, but to tenderly seduce each other with their intense longing for one other.
Intrusive and controlling parents, along with strict Indian marriage laws, make their lives apart almost unbearable, and if this were fiction, I'd be inclined to think they didn't make it. But they defy the odds and survive years of separation, limited time together, and youthful love and promise.
Disease, pregnancies, deaths, and heartsickness run throughout the story as the letters, printed verbatim, start with a shyness between the two and become bolder over time. It is poignant, heartbreaking, sweet, and genuinely revealing all at the same time.
I am struck by the respect, love, and honor of their daughter, author Hemu Aggarwal, to painstakingly transcribed more than 500 letters found after Rai's death. What a treasure trove to have stumbled upon. How I wish we all could find such treasures after our parents' passing. Brava, Ms. Aggarwal!
-Julie Wilder-Sherman, Petaluma
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5.0 out of 5 stars A true love story.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 31, 2022
Having spent some hours in Jaipur chatting about the letters with Hemu, I was very keen to read the book. I felt truly privileged to have been able to read such personal letters. Having grown up on the other side of the world, it was extremely insightful to be immersed in not only the Indian culture but the culture of that time. A wonderful love story. Thank you, Hemu, for sharing it with us.
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 9, 2022
In reading this book, you go through all of the emotions that Pran and Rai felt when writing those letters. This also goes to show everyone the differences within other cultures and that some people are luckier than others. A well-transcribed book from hundreds of letters that the author and daughter decided to share with fortunate readers. Thank you. I feel like I got to know Prank and Rai through these letters.
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Monika simon
5.0 out of 5 stars
Overcoming Adversity
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on October 28, 2022
I very much appreciated the book through letters of people from another culture and country -- the age of my parent's generation!
The restrictive mores were a shock, and I admired how the writers of the letters endured insurmountable challenges, how they strengthened each other and turned their lives around after the year-long separations. Eventually, they followed their own convictions on how lives must be lived, and their children benefitted! Brava Hemu!
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