Saradia Chatterjee's review of The blotted Line by Mehreen Ahmed 5.0 out of 5 stars: A brilliant anthology on June 12, 2016 Format: Kindle Edition

“The Blotted Line” is a collection of literary short stories and it is one of the best ones I’ve read. I have been fortunate enough to read some fantastic anthologies by Indie authors but I must say when it comes to profound understanding of feelings and portrayal of human conditions, Mehreen Ahmed’s writing has impressed me the most.
The stories are not excessively descriptive. They are stories where we slip into the shoes of the characters and discover their thoughts and emotions. The author doesn’t intrude and inject opinions to confuse the reader. The characters speak for themselves. It is this aspect of Ahmed’s writing that strikes me as brilliant. Only a great author allows space for the reader’s imagination by refraining from clogging the narrative with too many details or explanations.
While each story encompasses the lives of different individuals, they converge at a certain point to express the oneness of feeling. Loss and tragedy is common to many of us mortals irrespective of our individual situation. These stories bring home the truth about humans not limited within barriers. We have faults, we err, we struggle through dismal moments and chase happiness. “The Blotted Line” doesn’t just tell the stories of fictional figures, it tells our stories.
There are some crucial elements which determine the quality of short stories, one of them being the ability to conclude without letting out too much information. This keeps the reader ruminating for hours after completing the story. “The Blotted Line” will force you to think and rethink. It will affect you and my experience tells me not a lot of books can achieve that!