Title: Yoga: A Love Story
Author: Douglas Davis
Publisher: Rupa Publications India
Genre: Religious & Spirituality, Contemporary romance
First Publication: 2021
Language: English
Book Summary: Yoga: A Love Story by Douglas Davis
This is the mesmerizing story of John Yogacara Asanga. A direct descendant of the eponymous saint Asanga, John is yet to realize his destiny. For now, he is just a young man grappling with his part-Indianness in an American world.
Through the pages of this book, we accompany John on his journey from the safety of Kokomo, Indiana, the city he called home, through the world of drugs and prostitution in Chicago and his days in prison in America to an ashram in India where he meets Aanya, the love of his life, to finally discovering his destiny as an Asanga.
Replete with mystical, magical details, this novel deals with transcendent themes that relate to our very existence.
Book Review: Yoga: A Love Story by Douglas Davis
‘Yoga A Love Story’ by Douglas Davis is a good reminder that a great book can live from its character cast as well. It doesn’t need to have a compelling plot with twists and turns or action scenes that leave you gasping. Sometimes everything a book needs are well-thought out and realistic characters and yes, this is exactly what this book delivers.
The book, Yoga A Love Story, by Douglas Davis, tells an epic tale of a man’s search for meaning and love in his life. As a biracial half Indian/half white male living in rural Indiana, protagonist John Yogacara Asanga faces many challenges. When he was young, his father, who serves in the United States Air Force and is also a storm chaser, taught him not to run from storms. Around the age of 18, John lost his father while chasing a double hurricane off the coast of Africa. As a result, he leaves Indiana and goes to the nearest big city.
In Chicago, he becomes a member of a notorious gang on the South Side of Chicago because they accept him. It is not easy to survive in the inner city and to belong to a gang. He eventually ends up in jail because of the gang’s criminal activities. He agreed to testify and was given witness protection not only in the United States, but also in India.
The real spiritual journey of John Yogacara Asanga begins in India. While traveling through the magnificent Kaziranga jungle, he encounters angels, demons, shapeshifting tigers, and breathtaking landscapes. When he masters Yoga in its truest form – a union with God – he comes to love himself, others, and finds love of his life, Aanya Devi Ghosa. Their story is charming, sweetly romantic, inspirational, and real.
The plot touches lightly on the wrongs and heartbreaks of this world—adults ruined by addictions, greed, and crime, and the neglected children who pay the price into adulthood. But the answers provided are simple and true. In addition to this, there are mystical, magic details in the story. Yoga A Love Story takes the audience on a captivating journey that reveals the secrets of yoga, the universe, and love and life.
This novel takes you from the world of drug abuse and prostitution in the West to the serene landscapes of North-Eastern India. I like the character of John Yogacara Asanga and how he sees the world. The thoughts he share, the pieces of wisdom his words contain, the severity of the decisions he make are some of the things that make this book a wonderful reading.
This is a more character driven book than plot driven. Though plot itself is pretty magnificent, but the characters and writing is what makes this book a memorable experience. The setting of the story in North-Eastern India is exceptional!
How the author gets you to connect with the characters, is something not every author can do. The cast of characters like always are utterly compelling and you get attached to them almost right away. Author Douglas Davis takes you into a world unlike any other, with characters that feel real and come off the pages – you want them to be real. He presents you with a wonderful main character, John Yogacara Asanga, a strong self-assured female character, Aanya Devi Ghosa, whom you end up liking from her first appearance. I liked the platonic relationship between John and Aanya Devi. It’s so perfect and such a special part of the book.
The book has a great moral to it and is one that strengthens faith in humanity and good people. Three-dimensional characters, awesome quotes, meaningful conversations, a little bit of magic and mysticism made this a wonderful read. Highly recommended.
