India, Aug. 24 -- Sometimes you can't quite put your finger on what it is that makes a stack of inked pages tug on the wells inside you. Nonetheless, you stick with it. Luckily, with Allison King's The Phoenix Pencil Company, you will be glad that you stuck around because the plot of the book is true storytelling. Be it the protagonist Monica's incredibly relatable contemporary struggles or her grandmother, the Alzheimer's-stricken Meng and her war-ravaged past, at the heart of it all are two women eking out their business of living. While one is more conflicted, the other is more dramatic. But what ties it all together? Pencils, and the magic that lives in them. This novel, full of love and secret histories, shows how a young woman unearths the story of a lost Shanghai pencil company, and alongside shines her hidden family ability that has the potential to alter the path of her life forever. To Allison's credit, the core plot point is what you will barely find yourself questioning because you just want to believe it! Keeping a pair of small-font accustomed eyes focused on 400-odd pages is never an easy feat. More often than not, this is the exact beat at which debuting novelists falter and the story crumbles. So without calling Allison's storytelling flawless, it's relevant to note that the blimps feel real in a human sense. Also, the slight hesitation and oddly comforting sense of lull at times feel incredibly raw, having qualities that are missing in the increasingly finessed reads hitting the stands these days. So, if you're looking for a good emotional release when the rain beats down on your window, there couldn't be a warmer pat than this book. Title: The Phoenix Pencil Company Author: Allison King Publisher: HarperCollins Price: Rs.499...