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Research Paper | English Language and Literature | Volume 15 Issue 6, June 2026 | Pages: 1265 - 1267 | India
Psychological Realism in Preeti Shenoy's The One You Cannot Have
Abstract: Preeti Shenoy's The One You Cannot Have vividly captures what people feel, remember and fight with themselves through the characters of Aman, Shruti and Anjali. The novel is more than a love story, that explores the minds of those who cannot escape the pain of their past. In this paper, as a researcher I would like to examine Shenoy's use of psychological reality to portray in a very realistic sense heartbreak, guilt, longing, regret, confusion and emotional healing. The characters in the novel are not magnificent or special; they are just regular people who have a lot of emotional issues. There is a sense of stuckness in Aman's memory of Shruti and a sense of guilt and ambivalence in Shruti that put family pressure over her love. Anjali is an emblem of mental strength, self-respect and the opportunity of healing. Shenoy's simple narration, memory, inner reflection and shifting emotions gives the novel a psychological depth and realism. In this paper, it is argued that the novel is not only about love that is not realised, but about the workings of the mind as well. It also shows how the characters' emotions change in response to what others think of them, their family pressures and the choices that they make. The One You Cannot Have is one among the important novelistic work in modern Indian English that has been written with psychological realism.
Keywords: Modern Indian fiction, psychological realism, emotions, inner conflict, memory
How to Cite?: Dr. A. Sharanbalaji, "Psychological Realism in Preeti Shenoy's The One You Cannot Have", Volume 15 Issue 6, June 2026, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 1265-1267, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=SR26622073810, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR26622073810