This is a little heartbreaking because Bridge of Clay, with a fable-like quality, is all heart, infused with a variety of wonderfully moving themes about loyalty, family, love and grief and about building bridges – to take us to people we love, to move from the past and to the present, and to pave a way forward. His new book is an ambitious, affecting family saga, but one that took frustratingly long to pull this reader into its folds. I thought of this constantly when I read Bridge of Clay by novelist Markus Zusak of the bestseller The Book Thief fame. But the main rule is: Hold my attention.” All other matters of literary discourse become secondary when you realise that all a book needs to do is to hook and to hold, till the last page does you part. In a teaser to her online masterclass on creative writing, author Margaret Atwood reminds us plainly: “People are always coming up with new theories of the novel. ‘Shh! baby is sleeping’: Puppy up for adoption falls asleep in anchor’s arms during broadcast.‘Operation Fortune’ review: An entertainingly fleet espionage thriller.Manipur violence: BJP MLA assaulted by mob in Imphal, critical.Watch: Comedian Shraddha’s hilarious take on the performance appraisal of corporate employees.

In Imphal, two families recount two days of horror that ended in death.But Hemanga the swan has a plan to save mankind Brahma is fed up with humans and wants them gone.S Jaishankar terms Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as a ‘spokesperson of terrorism’.Watch: A rare white snake rescued from Coimbatore released back into the wild.Manipur violence: At least 13 dead, police chief’s home attacked.Doha Diamond League live updates: Neeraj Chopra to begin season, Eldhose Paul in action now.A new book of short stories is based on eyewitness accounts of women’s lives in royal harems.Justice Govind Mathur: The principles of democracy can’t be scarified at altar of majoritarianism.

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