Ratika Kapur

The conflicted thoughts of a Delhi woman who seems to almost have it all - fine son, great in-laws, good job, decent income - are so perfectly recognizable in any culture. The only flies in the ointment are the absence of Renu's husband, off in Dubai to earn enough money to send son Bobby to college, and her own frustrated ambitions to go to college, lost when her father died suddenly. Her discontent manifests itself in a friendship with a man she meets while commuting to work. Their involvement is peeled like an onion and stings as the layers get peeled off. Ranu also swings between enjoying caring for her family and desiring her own life, and this is all so poignantly told in her even keeled voice. Until, of course, fate intervenes and a tell tale heart moves into her flat. This novel is brief but strong and memorable.… (meer)

Well this was brilliantly written and one of the reasons I read. It was so cool to be immersed in Indian culture for a short while. Even the speech patterns I found fascinating. What I liked about the writing was the way she would describe the ideal of who she was and absolutely would and wouldn't do but then in the next step she would tell you what actually happened. It illustrates the human tendency to rationalize away the things we do that are below our own standards. How we all worry about our children and possibly try to manipulate them into something they're not. To see that in the backdrop of Indian culture, which is completely different than mine, and to be able to relate to those feelings so well in spite of the differences...that's why I read.… (meer)

I liked this book very much. As I read the last half I kept vacillating between a 4 and 5 star rating. Then the ending. It didn't work for me at all. It felt to me that the author had painted herself into a corner and was left only two reasonable endings, neither of which would be satisfactory to her not the reader. And we are left therefore, with an end that comes out of nowhere. An end that is totally inconsistent with our narrator's thinking and actions throughout.

The story is about a middle class Delhi housewife. Her husband works in Dubai, she has been raising their spoiled, demanding 15 year old son with the interference, not support, of her live-in in-laws in their one bedroom flat. She happens to meet a younger man at the neighborhood metro stop one day and they begin a friendly relationship. Extremely unusual for a married Indian woman - yes, even today, even in Delhi. Anyone the least bit familiar with modern Indian culture and mores would fear for a drippy romance or fantasy to ensue. But not so, at least not exactly. The writing is excellent. Mrs. Sharma has created an interesting, typical (an overused, Indian descriptor) all-India woman who is both likeable and frustrating throughout.

I wish I could recommend this book because I feel that there is so much that is very good about it. I have traveled to India many times and as I read I felt "I have been in this conversation", or this situation, many times. But that ending, in my mind, is ridiculous. Too bad.… (meer)