Book Review – Anamika by Soorina Desai

Well, this book had been on my bookshelf for long before I grabbed it out for reading. Some or the other commitments kept me occupied and reading about ‘the Nameless one’ (Anamika) kept on getting delayed. So, yes I’m guilty as charged!! 

But once I started to read through the pages I kind of developed literally an anxious interest in knowing what next was happening in the life of this book’s protagonist – Anamika.

Book Title – Anamika
Authors – Soorina Desai
Genre – Fiction/Romance
Publisher – Frog Books
Published in – September 2015
Pages – 234
Available Formats – Paperback & Kindle Edition
Price – Rs. 195 for Paperback Edition
Available Online at – Amazon.com & Flipkart.com

This book took precisely five amusing bedtime sessions for me to turn over the final page.

The Plot:

As rightly described in the book’s excerpt on Amazon, Life perhaps has no story to tell but I feel perhaps the road to self-discovery is quite intriguing. This book transcends from childhood stage of idolizing someone to the platonic love stage and finally culminates into the light of true romance. Anamika is born to a big sari merchant’s family based in rapidly changing Mumbai. Her elitist family becomes friends with Rajbir and his wife this is when Anamika’s life takes the ultimate turn.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

• Punctuation marks, spell checks could have been worked upon.

• The first few chapters didn’t appeal to me and were strenuous to read because of the emphasis that author gave on describing Mumbai of 1940s era in great length.

• I found some characters were redundant in the story and only added unnecessary clutter.

  What Worked for Me:

• At many places the description of Mumbai, did amuse me as well, especially reading about some brands, restaurants & the contemporary lifestyle that was predominant in Mumbai of those times.

• The matured handling while penning the relation between Anamika & Rajbir. In the sense that a love story with a huge age gap needs a careful attention lest it forays into inappropriate grounds simply to create a buzz about the book.

About the Author:

This is the first book written by Soorina Desai. She was born and brought up in Mumbai and has three books written by her till today. The other two novels being Blame it on Destiny & Barefoot to Paradise. Apart from this, she has also written many poems.

Verdict:

My rating for this book would be 3.5/5.

This life story of the pretty woman, ‘Anamika’ takes you through the real and sometimes tabooed dynamism of  human relationships. The person once you felt as a father figure, then an idol and somewhere down the years you grow up to realize that the admiration towards that person is nothing else but love.

What’s wrong and what’s right in our whole lifetime it’s for us to decide. Societal pressures often affect our life’s decision but are these pressures worth bearing the whole life, is what we all should ask ourselves.

If you are interested in reading about Mumbai of 1940s’ era or interested in reading an unconventional love story between a young girl and a man almost double of her age then go grab a copy of this intense life story, now!

Love thy Quote:

“There is much beyond the comprehension of the mind, there is even more beyond that of the heart.” – in Anamika by Soorina Desai