Author: Vani Mahesh
Publisher: HarperCollins India
What would you do if you had to uproot your
life and move to an unknown space?
Meet Me in the Middle by Vani Mahesh is the story of
Anu, who is a thirty-year-old woman, a mother to a four-year-old and a teacher.
She lives in Bengaluru, surrounded by friends and family, and her life seems to
be perfect, until one day her husband suddenly develops a taste for luxury and
forces Anu to move to the plush neighborhood of Verdant Green. The sudden jump
from a middle-class life to a super-luxurious one that they can barely afford,
lands Anu in one mess after another. Faced with everything from casual classism
to extravagant yoga classes, she must now tackle this new life in her own inimitable
style even as her marriage crumbles. Funny and candid, this is a story of
aspirations and desires, and being careful about what you wish for.
The concept of the book is interesting as it focuses
on the series of events that form a part of Anu’s life and how a series of
events threaten to derail her life. The narrative focuses on the before and
after the move to Verdant Green, and while the premise is interesting, the
narration seems to drag on for longer than necessary in the first half of the
book. There are moments on the book which are funny and make you smile, but the
incidents seem to repeat after a while. The storytelling is good and keeps you
turning the pages, but something to keep the reader hooked was missing from the
story. The climax is well crafted, but the build up to the drama ends on a
pretty flat note.
The book, however, stands on strong character
descriptions. Anu’s character as a classic middle-class woman is well crafted
and there are some witty one-liners that elevate her character. Sameer’s
character is interesting in providing perspective to the actions of other
characters and his advice is something that I would probably dish out. Sanju’s
character was a bit underrepresented, and I would have loved to see his side of
things in the story as well.
Overall, a good story that I would recommend, and it scores a 4.19/5 for me.
Get a copy of the book here.
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