Book Review : Glass/Fire by Mandira Pattnaik

Namrata reviews Mandira Pattnaik’s Glass/Fire (Querencia Press, 2024) calling it a story of survival and transformation, of finding strength in fragility and purpose amidst chaos.

Mandira Pattnaik’s Glass/Fire is a luminous novella-in-flash that weaves a poignant tapestry of love, loss, and resilience. In just 60 pages, Pattnaik creates a world steeped in natural elements—rain, tide, and the ever-shifting coastline—that mirror the emotional turbulence of its three central characters. The result is a haunting, evocative narrative. Elements of nature serve as a poignant metaphor for the emotional turbulence of the novella’s three central characters, reflecting their struggles, transformations, and the ceaseless ebb and flow of their lives. This connection between the natural world and human experience imbues the story with a haunting, evocative quality that lingers long after the final page is turned.

The true strength of Glass/Fire lies in its elegantly crafted, compact prose. Each flash segment is a masterful vignette, carrying the weight and depth of a full story while offering fleeting yet deeply impactful glimpses into the lives of the narrator, her sister Lily, and Jo. The sparse yet powerful language ensures that every word matters, every moment resonates, and every scene builds upon the emotional gravity of the last.