In HerStory Recommends this week, an Auschwitz tale will teach you about love and hope, while The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel will bring some fun back into your life.

For the love of art

The HerStory team says Namaskaram from Kochi, the Queen of the Arabian Sea. Old Kochi, particularly Fort Kochi and Mattancherry, is in the midst of an art revival with the Kochi-Muziris Biennale all set to begin on December 12. On until March 29, this is an opportunity for art lovers to not only tour the beautiful city and soak in its rich history, but enjoy contemporary international visual art, and look forward to talks and debate on art and culture.

There’s already some colourful graffiti being painted on the walls of Fort Kochi against the picturesque backdrop of the flowing backwaters and the beautiful Chinese fishing nets. Most of the Biennale’s venues are on the waterfront, and there’s nothing like a good, flowing breeze to keep up your artistic spirits. If you want more, look out for volunteer opportunities at one of Asia’s largest art festivals. What are you waiting for? Culture, history, travel and art…can it get any better than this?

(Kochi-Muzirs Biennale from December 12, 2018 to March 29, 2019 - Fort Kochi, Mattancherry and Durbar Hall, Ernakulam)

A story of faith and hope

Any Auschwitz story is painful to read, but sometimes history must be revisited to understand the pain and suffering people had to go through for no fault of theirs. The Tattooist of Auschwitz, by Heather Morris, one of the best-sellers of the year, is a moving account of a Slovakian Jew who is transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Lale is a linguist, and to his credit can speak multiple languages. This comes to the notice of his captors and he is put to work as a Tatowiere (tattooist) to ink his fellow prisoners. In this process, he meets a forlorn and distraught woman and has to have the number 34902 tattooed onto her arm. Lale is enamoured by Gita and vows someday to leave the camp and marry her.

The story is one of faith, and also of hope in the most trying circumstances ever known to mankind and a lesson how love endures through all. The imagery though dark is quite vivid and tugs at your heart-strings. This is one book you simply must not miss this year.

(The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris)

A funny ride

The Marvelous Mrs Maisel is back. And if you haven’t watched Season 1 on Amazon Prime so far, you have missed one of the most-loved TV characters of our time. So you have the whole weekend to binge watch both Season 1 and Season 2. While we have already gone ga-ga over the first season, it’s Mrs Maisel’s coming into her own that we were most looking forward to. By the end of Season 1, Midge's (Rachel Brosnahan) witticisms and wisecracks had become quite popular, she had rubbed one of the biggest names in comedy the wrong way, and also became quite disenchanted with her family.

Without giving much away, all we can say about Season 2 of Marvellous Mrs Maisel is that when Midge goes on state, there are some electrifying stand-up performances that will take your breath away. It’s 1959 - there is nostalgia, a love interest; with a narrative that’s breezy and funny. Go watch.

(The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - Season 2 - now streaming on Amazon Prime)

(Do you have a book, movie, music or an app you think should make it to the HerStory Recommends list? Do write to me at [email protected])