No sugar-coating WITH VERISM

This is an example of the literary device known as verism, i.e, capturing life with stark, unembellished authenticity. Verism shows people and situations exactly as they are — warts and all — with no polishing of imperfections. It’s an artistic way to convey quotidian truths of life, rather than idealising or romanticising it.

- ROOPA BANERJEE

Verism is similar to realism but goes further to embrace raw, sometimes uncomfortable truths of human existence. In literature and art, this often manifests in palpably real characters, settings that are lived in, and narratives that refuse to sanitise reality for elegance.

The word verism derives from Latin verus, which means 'true' or 'real.' It is related to verismo, the 19th century Italian movement in opera and literature that realistically — and unflinchingly — depicted contemporary life.

A powerful example of verism is in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. The novel is set against the backdrop of the Dust Bowl migration, which Steinbeck portrays with relentless candour — worn shoes, blistered roads, and the quiet desperation of families pushed to the edge.

J.K. Rowling’s