In the novel The Bench the author endeavours to look at the complexities of life through the prism of human emotions. The protagonist, Natasha, embarks on a journey of self-actualisation. Waiting endlessly, without hope, she sits on the hospital bench living through the trauma and tribulations of her life as her husband fights for his life after a terrible accident. The doctors and nurses befriend her as she reaches out to help others. Instead of becoming a poor helpless victim of circumstances she sets out to carve a new life for herself. Does she succeed? Is it enough for her to live with the happy memories of her brief marriage or does she succumb to her father-in-law's entreaties to remarry? The author explores all of Natasha's dilemmas with sensitivity and from an emotional perspective.