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A review by tanvi
The High Priestess Never Marries by Sharanya Manivannan
4.0
"This is the weight of love: just because you can touch water does not mean the oceans are yours."
This was a very lush, lyrical and indulgent book. It is a book for people who have a lot of feelings. Who meditate on what it means to love, to be loved and the specific violence with which love unravels us. The prose was poetic bordering on an overdose of melodrama but the author achieved the goal of reminding us that love is a many act play. I enjoyed her portrayal of love as devotion, surrender and salvation and I appreciated the admission that love is a consuming force. I have not allowed myself to read a book like this in a long time and I remember why. More than anything I was struck by the depth of her writing and her ability to claim space for her narrative within many dimensions. I'm definitely more emotional and pining now than I care to be, but such is the mark of a truly piercing book.
This was a very lush, lyrical and indulgent book. It is a book for people who have a lot of feelings. Who meditate on what it means to love, to be loved and the specific violence with which love unravels us. The prose was poetic bordering on an overdose of melodrama but the author achieved the goal of reminding us that love is a many act play. I enjoyed her portrayal of love as devotion, surrender and salvation and I appreciated the admission that love is a consuming force. I have not allowed myself to read a book like this in a long time and I remember why. More than anything I was struck by the depth of her writing and her ability to claim space for her narrative within many dimensions. I'm definitely more emotional and pining now than I care to be, but such is the mark of a truly piercing book.