Love, in fiction, is often imagined as a destination; a happily-ever-after that neatly ties together heartbreak, longing and relationships. For Hyderabad-based author Sonika Shandilya, however, love is less about arriving at a perfect ending and more about finding one’s way back. Her third romantic novel, The Way Back Into Love, published by Srishti Publishers, explores love beyond romance, tracing the many forms that shape a person’s life.
The emotional spark for the novel came from an unexpectedly simple sight. “I was just enjoying seeing this butterfly in my garden. After a while, it started coming down. From there, I got this thought of how the fear of heights and the fear of success can hold you back,” she recalls.
That thought becomes central to Sarah, the protagonist, whose first major test comes through a school debate. Despite being prepared, she loses when fear takes over. Yet she refuses to give up. “She has this strength that she never gives up. She participates every time and keeps going her way, in spite of whatever fear she has and in spite of losing. She tries,” shares Sonika.
The idea of returning gives the novel its title. While it includes Sarah and Jatin finding their way back to romantic love, Sonika expands the phrase to encompass ambition, friendship, family, country and, ultimately, the self.
“Love as in love is one meaning. Then there is the way back to your dreams and your ambition. There is also the way back to your relationships — that you don’t give up on them. There is also the way back to friendship,” she explains.
The characters also travel outside India, creating another kind of return. “Sometimes, because of societal pressures or certain things, we don’t face the problem head-on. Sometimes you are forced to leave the country also. But then they still come back. It is also a way back into the love of the country,” she says.
Although rooted in romantic fiction, the novel moves away from the idea of perfect love. “The characters are after perfection, and this is what they learn by the end of the novel that there is nothing called perfection,” says Sonika, adding, “Perfection is not the absence of imperfection, but the will to strive for perfection.”
Heartbreak, too, becomes a lesson in resilience. Ultimately, The Way Back Into Love is about resilience — losing, learning, accepting and finding the courage to begin again. For Sonika, love is not always about holding on; sometimes, it is about finding the way back to what matters.
Her upcoming work delves into a deceptively simple idea; honesty, and the difficult choices that come with holding on to it. At its heart is a story about two people who find themselves becoming each other’s guiding force, drawing from the timeless relationship between Arjun and Krishna.
Speaking about the work, the author says, “I’m writing something about honesty, about people who are honest, how difficult their life gets and what challenges they face in their life. But at the end of the day, honesty is the way to be for society.” It’s also something about how every person has an Arjun and Krishna within them.
She further adds, “It is also a love story in which the boy is going through some turmoil and he meets this girl. That girl becomes his Krishna. And because we are all mortals here, even that girl faces the situation later on in the book, and the boy turns out to become her Krishna. I have completed writing almost three-fourths of it. I have tentatively titled the book Honesty Is Best, Is It?’”