The Separation

Malayan Emergency, the year is 1955, which is when the Malayan guerrilla war was being fought for an Anti-British government in Malaya. The period of Insurgency has occurred just after the Japanese troops left the country followed by Malayan economic disruption. The war is at its full form, and the red-headed Europeans were treated with disrespect.A woman named Lydia Cartwright who found herself searching for her two young daughters amidst of deadly war and terrorism, murder, lies, and deceit. A wild goose chase for a ray of hope in the Malayan jungles, Lydia's life had never had been so terrorizing and so on the edge. A mother's painful journey of searching her daughters among pain and bloodshed and uncovering so many hidden puzzle pieces , mysteries and secrets, in the way letting her guard down for more than one time.The Separation by Dinah Jefferies is an enriching and soul-touching story that is bound to be etched on to your hearts for a very long time.I cannot thank enough to the author, Dinah Jefferies for providing me with a copy of her incredible novel to read and review the same.I loved every bit of it and every piece of it. On the opening scene of the book, we see that Emma is playing with her younger sister, Fleur on their Malayan country home and then all of a sudden, their dad, Alec is asking them to pack off all their belongings hastily and all the while, Emma was asking what about their mother, Lydia, will she come with them, how will she know that they have left the house, worrying badly about her. Being so young, Emma had no say on her dad's decisions, hence they leave. In fact, Alec left the country with the girls, without even informing the mother of his children, who was in the plantation farm, working and taking care of her friend. When Lydia returns to the empty house, she meets Maznan, a young half-Chinese boy, their driver's daughter's son, who has to be rescued to be taken back into the jungle to his mother. And thus Lydia embarks upon a journey to save another mother's child and of her own daughters. From terrorist attacks to ambush to getting rescued by a mysterious Chinese man named Adil to once again falling back into the arms of Lydia's ex-lover, Jack to losing him to losing her own daughters in a fire, how much pain can a mother take for the sake of her own daughters? Even after hearing the news of their daughter’s death, she becomes concerned about Maznan, who was kidnapped into the jungles, and all the while believing that her daughters were alive at least in her heart, but one visit to her friend, Cecily, changes everything. Her fate with Adil and Malaya will be changing forever, because she realized its time to leave Malaya, her home, once and for all and embark yet another wild goose chasing journey to her birth place, England.The Separation is a gorgeously-written and suspenseful tale about the pull between a mother and a daughter’s love and individual freedom, Lydia finding her among Jack and Adil and Emma finding her with a boy named Billy and among her fictional stories.The author has a deep psychological grip on her characters, which are portrayed as versatile, flawed and sympathetic human beings, all achingly vulnerable, all wracked by fear, need and guilt. Alec, a father and a man with no self-respect of his own, from fathering a child of a Chinese woman to having affairs behind his dating wife's back to raping his own flesh and blood to sending away his own mother to n old age home to lying and deceiving his own life and as his younger daughter, Fleur said that father wanted to make a bigamist of their mother, he was a man who in the end, ended up being in pain and lonely.Lydia, a perfect mother, always kept her daughters locket and the lizard earrings of her own mysterious mother as a lucky charm, has been a victim of lies and deceit. From getting torn apart from the world's most purest form of love to forcing to believe her children's death, a brave and fearless woman who is an epitome to the all the mothers of the world who teaches us that how to not lose hope and trust.Emma, the most lovable and favorite character of this book, sweet and innocent, inevitably attached to her mother, from being a victim of sexual harassment to lies and torment of her own soul, a little girl, who believed in her heart that she will one day find her mother.The characters are bound to draw a mark upon your mind. The emotions run deep and rich with pain and love and hope, and with every feeling of Lydia and Emma, you might find yourself, rooting for these two characters. Tears welled in my eyes in the climax scene and beautiful words and feelings of Emma, make it look all more delectable and emotional.Honestly, I never wanted this book to finish, but after their separation, I so wanted Lydia to find Emma, to hold her, caress her and love and protect her from those vile, evil men. And I'm sure, like me, you too might lose yourself in this enthralling and heart-warming tale of a mother and daughter’s inevitable bond.P.S. You will get a mesmerizing and something serene feeling when you look at that beautiful cover. And I wish, I could have given more than 5 stars to this book.

Good

Average. Starting is good. Didn't like the Malaya part.Emma's version was better.End was sudden and too short compared to the rest part.