14 December, 2015

#BookReview :: The Madras Affair by Sundari Venkatraman

Sangita Sinclair was not always this successful & passionate lady, heading the NGO “Penn Urimai” for downtrodden, abused and homeless women….

When Sangita catches the eye of Gautam Sinclair she is a simple, homely girl; utterly unaware of her charms & capabilities. She has the devil’s own time in overcoming her inhibitions, hesitation, and her family’s orthodox and outdated rules before recognising her love for Gautam.

Will Gautam be able to solve Sangita’s Dilemma or will she be forever trapped in her past?


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Meet Sangita, the head of a NGO that works towards the betterment of abused and homeless women. At a glance, she is a smart, intelligent and successful lady who seems to have her life under control. But we all know that nothing as it seems on the surface and Sangita’s life is no different. She has had a difficult and tremulous life. All Sangita needed was Gautam to walk into her life. 
Sangita is a character who I wish reflected more women in our society. She is strong and even idealistic to a point. She knows what is right and doesn’t hesitate to fight for it no matter how great the opposition is. Gautam on the other hand feels like what an ‘ideal’ man should be like. Unfortunately they mostly seem to reside in the fictional world and very few can be spotted in the real life. He is caring and very supportive. He knows how to respect women and it doesn’t hurt that he is good looking too.

One thing that I strongly feel is that those days are gone when a person (whether a man or a woman, but especially woman) ‘needed’ another person to ‘complete’ them. With more and more women coming out of their shells and the restrictive boundaries of the society, they hardly need a man to ‘earn’ their living or change the bulb. Yet it is also undeniable that a supportive partner makes things easier for everyone. That is where this book won me over. Yes, Gautam played a big part in how Sangita fought for what she wanted and he supported her all the way through. But the way the author has built up Sangita’s character, I would like to believe that even without Gautam she would have been okay. She had insecurities and yet she always got things done when needed. Sangita and Gautam were partners in true sense as they counted each other as equals. Also, while to most people this book will appeal as a romance novel, the author has done an admirable job of depicting the social evils that hold back people. Society’s conventional view of what a woman should be like actually restricts our growth and progress. And whether we realize it or not we all fall back to encouraging it further. We need more people like Sangita and Gautam in our society. Then there is Sandeep whose innocence will melt your heart at times. The bond between mother and son is so pure.

The plot is well plotted and executed. It is kind of predictable yet that doesn’t take away from the reading experience. The author’s language narration style is engaging. The best part was perhaps the flawed characters and real emotions that the author has portrayed without over dramatizing or toning it down.


Review Copy received from the Author


1 comment:

  1. Thank you so much Debdatta for this lovely review. I am so glad that you enjoyed reading my book. (I don't know how I missed commenting on this post before now. I am extremely sorry about that)

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