Haveli Series
The HAVELI SERIES, written by Harshali Singh adds another book to its line up. ‘Whispers of the Buried Past’ This is the story of Dheeraj, the reluctant heir of the Shama family and the only son sandwiched between 6 sisters.
The genesis of the series began with a chance visit to the Haveli with 100 doors that exists even today in the by lanes of old Delhi in Naugraha became the inspiration to write the story about a large family. The Sharma family. The Haveli became the foundation on which the stories of the newest residents- Arun Sharma, his wife Uma, and their 7 children, Aruna, Bhavya, Charu, Dheeraj, Etti, Fanny, and Gina, were based.
An omnipresent character in the lives of the Sharma family, the Haveli became the sutradhar, the narrator in the books, one who commands love, respect and has a strange connection with the lady of the manor, Uma. The silent sentinel stands beside the family as they go through life and its peaks and valleys.
1. A Window to Her Dreams
The first in the series, A Window to Her Dreams, was released in 2016.
Aruna, a young divorcee, marries Bhuvan, an averagely successful young man who had a crush on Aruna, back in college. Both make promises of ever after with preconceived expectations. They are equally shattered to learn that life sometimes plays the villain; their good intentions are tried at every step.
Aruna’s learned conditioning developed as a result of the oppressive years spent with her abusive and often violent first husband Rafi, constantly coming in the way of their married normalcy. As she stands on the precipice of a second failed marriage, she recalls her hopes and expectations and how she herself has become the hurdle in the path leading to the life of her dreams.
2. The Anatomy of Choice
The second one, The Anatomy of Choice, was released in 2018.
Bhavya, the Sharma family’s second daughter, made her life in Paris with Tenzin, her live-in partner. As the flame of their love starts to dwindle, they act on a fantasy only to realize that they were ill-equipped to handle the consequences of their choice.
As she navigates the intimate, familial, and societal realms trying to find herself, she finds a journal of a 16th-century courtesan Noorie, who struggled with her own destiny. Bhavya finds her own indecision juxtaposing with the angst of a woman born much before her time. She is forced to examine and find parallels in the unconventional love and relationships that stretch across centuries and own up to the decisions that affect her life and love.
3. A Paradox of Dreams
The third book ‘A Paradox of Dreams’ is about Charu, the prodigal daughter, least understood by the family and her journey.
In keeping with the ‘Haveli Series’ that celebrates and explores relationships; this book too explores the personal quest of Charu to find answers.
Back into the fold of the Haveli, Charu wakes up from a horrific dream to answer a phone call from an old friend, Prithvi Chauhan, the suave Minister of State. He asks Charu to help him locate his kidnapped younger daughter Myra for old times sake.
Hence the Paradox is in the context of the young girl from her nightmares and also the child who is kidnapped. And the book is a juxtaposition of Charu’s external and internal quest to reach a successful resolution.
It is also a look at different family dynamics. Charu’s abandonment issues that stem from her parents sending her to her grandmother’s house in Surat and the Chauhan family who have a strange malevolent undertow that Charu can sense.
The Paradox of Dreams, is a character driven book that amalgamates drama and mystery.
It is also revealed why Charu calls the Haveli, Anwar and why her parents sent Charu to Surat?
Dreams are mystical wonderlands that can be traumatic and yet shine a light on the hidden depths of our consciousness. Who knew this better than Charu, the third daughter of the Sharma family, who was gifted yet conflicted.
Like a Matryoshka doll, Charu and Ravi uncover the nefarious intentions behind the polished lives of the Chauhans even as Charu battles with dreams that claw at her psyche and memories, trying to resolve a conflict that lies at the heart of the Sharma family and the Haveli.
4. Whispers of the Buried Past
In the heart of Old Delhi stands Anwar – the Haveli with a hundred doors – its walls heavy with secrets, its air thick with loss and longing.
During its renovation, a buried body surfaces—and with it, the nightmares begin. Dheeraj, the reluctant heir to the Haveli’s fading glory, finds himself haunted by a ghost that speaks his forgotten name. Each whisper draws him closer to the truth: a curse that never ended. It merely waited for him.
To silence the dead and reclaim his life, he must confront the blood-soaked secrets of his lineage, his father’s past sins and atone for the wrongs that destroyed generations before him. But every step towards redemption draws him deeper into madness.
With a reclusive medium and her fierce daughter Naina as his only allies, Dheeraj races through the Haveli’s endless doors—each one leading to vengeance, forbidden love, and a past that refuses to die.
Will Dheeraj rewrite his family’s fate or become its final sacrifice?
