Imagine finding yourself lost in a forest. And as you walk deeper into the foliage, you hear footsteps following you. You notice a mysterious figure has been following you... so goes the trailer of the book, The Shadow of the Steam Engine, written by a Thrissur-based veterinarian Vestin Verghese. The book is a thriller meant for children. “It is about siblings—a brother and a sister who have lost their home to the sea and are trying to seek refuge. The book is for children above the age of ten,” says the writer. The book was launched last month by Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, and is available on Amazon.
Verghese had released a trailer for the book in October, which sparked the curiosity of many young readers. A veterinarian, he took to writing after being a part of Anita's Attic creative writing program. He found his writing voice with help of Anita Nair, the author of Lessons in Forgetting and Better Man. “The setting of the book is quite peculiar. It is in a forest adjacent to the sea. Close to the forest is an old railway crossing; there, the kids come across a steam engine.”
Verghese who grew up in Thrissur has previously written short stories and poems for the children's magazine Magic Pot. He says he has inculcated a lot of memories from his childhood in the novel. He has also written forTell Me Why, a popular publication for children. For this, he received a National Award for scientific communication in 2015. Verghese feels that the book should be read as a movie. “A lot of imaginative elements have been packed into it,” he says. “There are food references, like Enid Blyton does, then there is the fantasy element, which is the steam engine in a forest and a mystery man who follows the children,” he says.
Verghese, who has a son who is in the 6th grade and a daughter in the 10th, says that his children give inputs. I include some of them.” He says they also criticise his work. Verghese, who hopes to write more for teens and young adults, has read enough Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys to last him a lifetime. The vet says he also enjoys Gabriel Garcia Marquez novels from time to time.
