The Sun and Her Flowers - Poetry Book by Rupi Kaur - Perfect for Self-Reflection, Healing & Inspiration - Great for Book Clubs, Gifts & Personal Growth

the sun and her flowersby Rupi Kaur.Reviewed by C. J. Singh.Based on my interviews with a large random sample of young students at Stanford University and at UCBerkeley on Rupi Kaur's two books, it's clear that her two multi-genrè novellas are the voice of this generation just as the songs of Joan Baez and Bob Dylan are the voice of sixties generation.As Rupi Kaur’s brilliant multi-genrè novellas are thematically linked, I ‘ll begin briefly with the first, “milk and honey.”In “milk and honey,” Rupi Kaur writes that her growing up as a female in a nurturing Sikh family shaped her development as a writer and artist: “the name Kaur runs in my blood; it was in my blood; it was in me before the word itself existed; it is my identity and my liberation – Kaur, a woman in my Sikhi” (page 184). To better understand Rupi Kaur’s books, the reader should take a look at the source of her “identity and liberation.” I’ll cite from an objective source by the British Professor Eleanor Nesbitt’s “Sikhism,” published in 2005, by Oxford University Press. Nesbitt, quotes from the Sikh scripture on “championing women”: From a woman comes the family. If one woman dies we seek another; without woman there can be no bond. Why call woman bad when she gives birth to rajas? Woman herself is born of woman, and none comes into this world without her.” THIS IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY !Reading a large sample of the more than 3000 published amazon-reviews of "milk and honey," I noticed many reviewers commenting that the book evoked in them deep emotions including crying, which can be part of the self-healing process.Rupi Kaur’s second book “the sun and her flowers” is an engaging journal that transcends as a brilliant novella. Narrated in first-person singular point-of view, she creatively presents many poems composed as free verse, prose-poems, prose, and evocative drawings. Her poem on the back cover, which she herself illustrated, is an excellent example:“this is the recipe of lifesaid my motheras she held me in her arms as i weptthink of those flowers you plantin the garden each yearthey will teach youthat people toomust wiltfallrootrisein order to bloom.”A novella of young-adult genrè, it’s divided into a five-chapter journey of the protagonist, who is metaphorically envisioned as a flower wilting; falling; rooting; rising; blooming. These correspond to the linear storytelling pattern of the inciting incident, protagonist’s efforts, series of complications, climax, and resolution. An upbeat resolution presented.On the opening pages the inciting incident:“on the last day of lovemy heart cracked inside my bodyi spent the entire nightcasting spells to bring you backi reached for the last bouqet of flowersyou gave menow wilting in their vaseonebyonei popped their heads offand ate them”In this book, the author develops in much greater detail the immigrant experience. Not only of the Punjabi immigrants from north India like her parents but also of immigrants in general (page 151):“so how dare you mock your motherwhen she opens her mouth andbroken english spills out…she already knows what it feels liketo have an entire nation laugh when she speaksshe is more than our punctuation and languagewe might be able to paint pictures and write storiesbut she made an entire world for herself”As brilliant insertions, Rupi Kaur composed compact odes and illustrated each with her drawings: “ode to sobha singh’s ‘sohni mahiwal’ ” (page 169); “ode to matisse’s ‘dance’ ” (page 203); ode to amrita sher-gil’s ‘village scene 1938’ ” (page 211); ode to raymond douillet’s ‘a short tour and farewell’ ” (page 237). Both of Rupi Kaur’s novellas will continue to appeal as the voice of the contemporary young-adults globally.