Author: Shilpa Suraj
Publisher: Rupa Publications
I was provided a media copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Would you sacrifice love to satisfy your guilt?
Ananya Saxena is the good girl who has always done the right thing. She
is a dutiful wife, faithful daughter-in-law, fierce champion of the law.
Except, in her heart was another phrase—reckless lover. An impossible choice
for a good Indian girl. Duty had Ananya marry her best friend only to end up
with a bitter, vengeful husband. Arvin Saxena is now a cripple, both physically
and emotionally, after his wife’s confession the day before they were to be
married. So, Arvin’s never-ending pain finds release only in hurting her. What
he doesn’t know is that her secret sin was loving Arnav Saxena. Arnav turned
his back on all of them when she discarded him and married his younger brother.
When he is forced to return, it sets Ananya on a collision course with fate and
she chooses desire over duty to embark on an affair with Arnav. For a brief glorious
time, they have it all. But soon, Ananya is faced with yet another
life-changing decision when adultery, bankruptcy and a web of lies bring her to
a crossroads. The dutiful wife or the defiant lover... who does she choose to
be? And does she really even have a choice?
Shilpa crafts an interesting tale of love, guilt and choices that will
make you rethink some of the choices you think are a natural reaction to various
situations in your life. The plot alternates between the past and the present
as the past comes to the fore, and we are presented with the facts of Ananya,
Arvin and Arnav’s past and how the current situation came to being. The
storytelling is quite powerful and you are drawn into the life of the
characters as it unfolds. The story of choosing between love and duty out of
guilt is very well told. I loved the fact that plot does not comment on the
decisions made by any character, but rather presents a cause-effect scenario of
each decision. The concept of “wrong” in this book is fluid and Shilpa presents
various ideas of what could be wrong, and how it is never late to correct what
might be perceived as wrong. Another thing I loved about the book was how
things unfold slowly and how the events of the past were quite related to the
ones in the present. The climax of the book really made me smile for the simple
fact that each of the primary characters-Ananya, Arnav and Arvin found out
their “wrongs” and finally took a step to rectify the same.
The characters in the book are crafted in detail and there are nuances to
each character in the book that adds volume to the plot. Ananya’s character is
a complex one who has a very strong moral compass who cannot stand injustice
happening, yet when it came to choices for her own life, she chose a path that
might not seem logical. Arvin’s character is someone who was dealt a blow in
life however his choices took him on a path of no return. Arnav is another
character whose story has ups and down, but while he did the right things,
situations made him walk on a path which was quite at odds with what he wanted.
Overall, this is a story that would make you believe in the power of
love, life and choices. The book scores a 4.88/5 for me.
Grab a copy of the book at your nearest bookstore or Amazon India.
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