Old photographs carry secrets. A pressed flower marks a page no one has turned in years. A vintage melody surfaces unbidden, and suddenly you are somewhere else entirely. In Neha Gupta's debut collection, memory is not passive — it accumulates, transforms, and sometimes outlasts the people who made it.
The stories gathered here move across a wide emotional register. One follows a family severed by Partition; another gives us an enchanting aunt whose stories become legend; a third watches a reader step into the story she is reading, blurring the line between witness and character. A man wrestles with whether to leave the only home he has known. A quarrelling couple discovers that their arguments were always a form of love. A daughter assembles her lost mother from fragments of recollection. Gupta writes with precision about the weight ordinary objects carry — a letter, an heirloom, a flea-market find — and how those objects become the repositories of an entire life.
For readers who believe that what we keep reveals who we are, this collection offers both the light stories and the ones that settle quietly and do not leave.
ABOUT THE BOOK:- "Life gives us stories to tell!" Old photographs, cherished letters, museums, flea markets and heirlooms. From the pressed flowers between the pages of a forgotten book to the humming of a vintage song, from nostalgic daydreams to soulful conversations, the art of keeping memories forever. A fateful journey across partition, the enchanting tales of a loving aunt, a reader turns into the main character, a man faces a dilemma to leave home, a quarrelling couple's love story, and a daughter remembers her lost mother. With profound understanding of the human emotions, 'Keepsake' is a short story collection that delves into the intricacies of storytelling, relationships, identity, and the universal quest for belonging. Just like moments in life, some stories are light-hearted and some intense, each having a heart of its own. These are now a part of you, and you are a part of them! Neha is a free-spirited storyteller and a white-collar professional, in no certain proportions. A compulsive multitasker she believes she can have it all. As a writer, she finds stories by observing life, experiences and people. As a Rewards leader, she uncovers stories in numbers. A graduate from SRCC Delhi and MBA from Symbiosis Pune, she resides in Bengaluru with her husband and daughter. This is her first book and the start of a literary career to watch out for. Follow her on Instagram/X/ Facebook on @nehaguptawrites
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