This is the story of boy meets girl, but you should know upfront, this is not a regular love story. Debut author Kanchana Banerjee launched her book on marital drama, A Forgotten Affair, recently. The protagonist Sagarika Mehta decides to walk out of her nine-year-old emotionally-abusive marriage, and finds her true love. But fate has something else in store for her.
A book on an extra-marital affair is not something that is written about a lot. Kanchana Banerjee says, “Women belonging to educated families may not be victims of domestic violence, but there are many who are emotionally abused. Such women, eventually, end up finding love outside their marriage. I think, a few are courageous enough to walk out and the others suffer in silence. The book has struck a chord with women who have faced similar scenarios.”
What got the author writing the novel? “I’ve been writing since the past 20 years. I’ve worked as a corporate writer for many years. Writing a novel has always been on my mind. I think of it as a long-cherished dream,” says Kanchana. The writer says she has never faced the writer’s block. “When you write your first book, it sort of gushes out of you. I finished writing the book in about 8-9 months. Whenever I feel the need to clear my mind, I play with my dogs. Running the treadmill and sweating it out also helps me a lot. And, I’m a big coffee-person and a wine aficionado. I sometimes write drunk and edit sober, like the saying goes,” she says.
