#BookReview: A Barren Heart by Shilpa Suraj

A Barren Heart by Shilpa Suraj
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Aman and Rhea seem to have the perfect marriage. They are madly in love - with each other, with their own careers and the home and life they are building in a quiet Mumbai suburb.

What could possibly be lacking in their picture-perfect marriage? A baby. Like most women, thirty-plus Rhea Chakraborty wants to hold her own flesh and blood in her arms. And Aman too wants the same. Or does he? 

After another unexplained miscarriage that takes a severe emotional, physical, and psychological toll on them, Aman isn't sure if having a baby will complete them or destroy them.


Last month I read Shilpa Suraj's book - Love, Marriage & other disasters. What I loved in the book was how she had written a very heartfelt , simple yet much relevant story of characters that readers would relate to easily. So, when I was offered a chance to review her new work, I was very excited to see how she presented this story. Glad to mention that she did not disappoint with Barren Heart.

Barren Heart revolves around various stages/struggles women face while trying to get pregnant. What feels like a natural process, is too hard for some of the women and each one has her own "family planning" story. Some of the plot lines & conversations in the book felt very real and I could recall some friends sharing similar stories with me or their girlfriends. The pain, the confusion, the reactions of friends, and family were portrayed well and I felt a lot of empathy for Rhea. Both Rhea & Aman are successful, independent and loving persons who are pillars to each other. While Rhea has her own family drama, Aman's childhood wasn't good. Which binds them together but also makes them lonely without each other.

Sometimes, I felt that she & Aman took some of the arguments too seriously. Some of the fights and the eventual making up scenes felt repetitive and not too impactful to the rest of the story. Rhea's issues with her family were mostly unresolved which did not make much difference but I was left wondering still. Nevertheless, Reading this book felt like listening to my own heart's voices at times .. This is a beautiful story of a marriage that survives being hurt, the fights & differences between the couple. It is a happy ever after ending but with a very realistic picture that all marriages go through highs & lows and some low are literally rock bottom for one or both parties. How you build yourself from those moments is what matters in the long run.

This is a well narrated story that has roots in modern lifestyle , characters who you get attached to and a satisfying end.

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Review: Goodbye Freddie Mercury

Goodbye Freddie Mercury by Nadia Akbar
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars



Goodbye Freddie Mercury is sort of coming to senses kind of book. The story narrates the life and thoughts of a section of people living in Lahore with a backdrop setting of the general elections and a new leader emerging. Lahore comes to life in the book and the author has a nostalgic and affectionate way of writing about the life in Lahore and it's various streets and cultural nuances. Thats a delight to read and you feel that city is what rules the story among all the cast and characters. And that is what really keeps the book moving for me. There is a RJ Bugsy who gets involved in politics against his wishes , his friends Omer & Aliya who are on top of the social circles of Lahore and define most of his relationships , the who's who of Urban Lahore politics and military section and then there is the girl Nida who gets involved in this chaos of living this life without a direction or care and it is never a happy ending for all.

 I liked the characters and the conversations. It was almost surreal at times ,making you pause and think back of your youth or look into the futility of all this, but the overall story left me wanting for more , a closure maybe. In the end , all relationships seemed to have no beginning or end,even those that are central to this storyline. The blurb promises some anguish, but there is none or some but masked in alcohol and smoke. The book is entertaining , the lives and the narration of the book almost like one of your own relative's tale and there is a lot of heart and hurt in the book.I enjoyed the wonderful music mentioned in the story and felt the hope to break free of the society one day and be above all this. But only few are able to do it and they are what become legends to be written about and be inspired from, like this book.

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Interview: Kate Langdon, Author of 'Making Lemonade'

                   
                Kate Langdon,is the author of the recently released novel,'Making Lemonade',which is already making waves. She is a writer of contemporary, intelligent, and humorous chick-lit.Her characters are loveable and real characters.Prior to becoming an author, Kate has been a journalism student, a tennis coach, a writer for television commercials, a burger bar owner, and an event manager. She lives in Auckland, New Zealand, with her partner and young son.In this short e-mail interview,she tells us about her future plans,her inspiration and a lot of other interesting stuff.

• On her Journey as an author- I began writing a short story about a loveable yet haphazard female character and things snowballed from there, before I knew what was happening it was longer than a short story and I was writing my first novel, That Slippery Slope…not something I had intentionally set out to do. When it was finished I took a chance and sent the manuscript off to major NZ publishing houses, it was subsequently published by HarperCollins and things progressed from there.

•  On her inspirations- I’ve enjoyed various forms of writing since I was a child, poems and short stories, and I was an avid reader as a kid, always with my head stuck inside a book. I had an amazing English teacher all through high school who really inspired me and made me fall in love with many of the great authors. (English was the only subject I was any good at at school!) However, novel writing was something I stumbled across by chance, when I was 24 and desperately waiting for the next Marian Keyes novel to be released.

• On 'Making Lemonade'- Making Lemonade is my third novel and my inspiration really came from being in my mid-thirties and wanting to write about relatable female characters of a similar age who are, for various reasons, at a low point or tumultuous crossroads in their lives. They’re forced to pick themselves back up off the floor and think about what it is they really want for themselves, and their lives going forward. They’re also forced to reflect on the dreams of their youth, discovering that although things may not have turned out as they had planned, being happy within themselves is all that really matters.

'Making Lemonade' is published by Harper Collins and is available in amazon.

-nikhimenon

Five Point Someone, by Chetan Bhagat

About the author:

Chetan Bhagat is one of India’s most known authors. He’s the author of five novels and a collection of essays. All five novels have either already been, or expected to be, made into movies.

Cover and blurb:

The cover is somewhat like a college notebook, and the book is subtitled what not to do at IIT. The cover talks of a college story, of three friends and the darker side of IIT.

My thoughts on the book:

Chetan Bhagat is one of those authors I’ve loved and hated. I guess not every book can be a super hit, but I’ve read four of his five novels, felt two was average, and two was way below par. I’ve this habit of not reading books in order. So when one of my friends saw that I’ve not read CB’s debut book, Five Point Someone, she gave me her copy and told me I have to read that. I decided to complete the set of CB novels and took it eagerly. I’d heard rave reviews of the book from most of my friends, and with the movie 3 Idiots being adapted from this one (loosely adapted, I might add), I thought it possibly couldn’t be worse than the two novels I’ve felt way below par.

Five Point Someone brings to us, the story of three friends and their life in IIT. These three friends are linked, not by common points, but how they don’t have much in common at all. It tells us of their studies, their friendship, their obstacles (including the teachers), the ragging and the revolt and many other aspects of college life that many of us might be able to relate to.

Is the book memorable? No. Not very. It’s a simply written simple story with not a lot of twists and turns etc. It’s a fast paced book which you might pick up on a journey and the plot keeps you occupied for a few hours, save you from boredom on that. There are various characters that you can step into the shoes of and possibly understand their life. You feel intrigued by the depth of friendship between the main trio, and you do wish for a happy ending to the novel, which does happen. This book however is not for those who are really in love with English (like me), and you wish it was narrated better. Looking at the plot more critically, the actions of the characters may not make sense at all, and you start banging your head as to why you took it up in the first place. (It’s something that has happened to me when I’ve read his other novels).

Want a book that’s a definite one-time read and has only enough to keep the imagination occupied for a few hours? Then perhaps this is a book you can try. Not one of my favorites, but not CB’s worst either.

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My rating: 2.5/5

Book Details:
Title: Five Point Someone
Author: Chetan Bhagat
ISBN: 9788129104595
Genre: Contemporary
Publishers: Rupa and Company
Price: INR. 95

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Reviewed by Leo

Shared with

1. Indian Quills Review Challenge at The Tales Pensieve

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Malice - Danielle Steel

Image Source: whitcoulls.co.nz

MALICE: General Fiction. Contemporary Fiction.

AUTHOR: Danielle Steel is an American novelist, currently the bestselling author alive and the fourth bestselling author of all time, with over 800 million copies sold. (From Wikipedia)

Image Source: guardian.co.uk

BEST - SELLER(S): Over 87 written Fiction works including Wanderlust, Matters of Heart and Southern Lights. She also has non-fiction on her name as well as children and picture books. Movie adaptions of her works have also been made. (Click on the links above to read the reviews on ALOP)

SYNOPSIS (From the Back Cover):

One extraordinary woman's struggle to triumph over malice and betrayal.

On the night of her mother's funeral, Grace Adams is attacked. A young woman with secrets too horrible to tell, Grace will not reveal the truth about what happened. After a life time of being a victim, she must now pay the price for other people's sins.

From a small town in Illinois to the depths of women's prison; from a Chicago modelling agency to a challenging career in New York, Grace carries her past with her wherever she goes. When Grace meets Charles Mackenzie, she finds a man who wants nothing from her  - except to heal her and to give her the family she so desperately wants. But with happiness finally within her grasp, Grace is her most vulnerable - in danger of losing everything to an enemy from her past, an enemy bent on malice...

EXCERPT:

Don't get smart with me, you little bitch. I can do anything I want with you. And don't you forget it.

But the way he said it made something snap deep inside her, and she took a step closer to him, and put her face close to his  with a look of fury.

I shot the last man who said that to me, and tried to act on it. And don't you forget that, Mr. Marquez. Are we clear now?

MSM Speaks (#Spoiler Alert): Before anyone says anything, let me tell you, this is my first Danielle Steel novel ever. I  have heard that Ms. Steel is known for her romantic, tragic and thrilling tales involving protagonists who have had hard lives and I wasn't sure if I would appreciate the feelings portrayed by them. Therefore, when a lady I admire handed me this as a tester, I couldn't say no. I have to admit, I finished this in almost a day and a half. There was a resistant pull towards the story of Grace Adams, which I could not ignore. I might read other works by Danielle, but I would rather wait, till I get this out of my system.

The story follows the life of a seventeen year old Grace Adams, who loses her mother due to cancer and has a legend of a father, loved by the entire community of Watseka. A renowned lawyer with immense love for the people, he is the epitome of goodness and integrity. On the night of her mother's funeral, Grace is attacked and raped in the most bestial fashion, leading her to commit a murder which was far from intended. However, Grace is blamed for her own plight, with no one standing up for her. She is incarcerated for manslaughter and is given a two-year term in Dwight. Grace learns that no one is her friend or her confidante and she would eventually die if she doesn't learn to fight and survive.

Having gone through a life of unexpected, Grace starts a new life with a modelling agency and sees the ugly truth about the glamour world as well. She is beautiful and wise beyond her years and her demeanor becomes a bane for her existence. Always maintaining a cool distant relationship with everyone, Grace finds herself falling for Marcus, a fashion photographer, but when it comes to intimacy, he betrays Grace magnanimously. Broken and scarred, Grace runs away to New York and starts a new life at a Law Firm. She is 22 now and much to her surprise, enters a life which she wouldn't have even dreamed of. The story takes a dream like quality which I really appreciated since I was tired and depressed of Grace's tragedies. They were heart wrenching and I just wanted them to end. Grace is married to Charles Mackenzie and has three beautiful kids, which makes her wonder whether what happened with her ever happened.

Eventually, Murphy's Law strikes again and she finds herself standing face to face with the demons of her past. But now, she has changed and Grace isn't scared to pay back the malice, with malice.

I am not into sappy romances, and very much to my relief, this wasn't one at all. Malice shows the ugly truth that women in the society have to face, and we'd rather consider ourselves lucky if we haven't been touched by those truths. To find a man that understanding, Grace's Charles was out of a story book - which did seem exaggerated or may be, it was how age affected thoughts. The characters were well developed and the insecurities of a teenager to that of a woman, were portrayed impeccably. MSM Recommends.

My Rating: 4/5

Malice @Corgi Books Transworld Publishers (A Random House Group Company) (c) 1996
ISBN No. 9780552141314

flipkart price: 399/-INR
No. of pages: 448