The Unknown Friend

In Charu Nainika's debut work of fiction we find a confluence of worlds. The fantastic goes hand in hand with the ordinary. Mia the protagonist is a familiar next-door schoolgirl whose unexpected tryst with an unknown friend online turns her life positively upside down. The narrative helps to revive the little that is left of childhood inside us. Charu handles the flow of the plot-line like a professional. The sparse set of characters that we come across vouch for the debut of a significant future fiction-writer. This book is well designed endearingly illustrated by its ten-year old author and is a child's eye-view of the world of virtual real possibilities. That said The Unknown Friend is above all a story of love trust and hope. With a disarmingly straightforward narration the novella works up a perfect antidote to this pandemic-stricken world ruled by pessimism and doubts.