BOOK
TITLE: The Perfect Groom
ISBN:
978-1-927826-14-0
AUTHOR:
Sumeetha
Manikandan
GENRE:
Fiction/
Indirom
NUMBER
OF PAGES: 120
FORMAT:
Digital
SERIES
/ STANDALONE: Standalone
REVIEW
BY: Dhivya
Balaji
HOW
I GOT THIS BOOK: I thank Naheed of Indireads for
giving me this book for review.
SUMMARY:
Very little
has gone right in Nithya’s young life. So, when a proposal from a young,
handsome NRI comes along, her mother jumps at the opportunity and packs her
daughter off to the US with her perfect groom.
Nithya
seems to have settled in with Ashok, ostensibly happy, if as yet childless, in
her new life. When an old flame comes back into her life, however, the cracks
in her perfect marriage begin to show…
REVIEW:
Two
important notes before I start this review.
1.
As a prelude, read the ‘About the
Author’ section of this review to know what this story is about.
2.
Don’t read the summary and form a
bad opinion about ‘Nithya’ and her ‘chastity’.
There,
that done, let me start my review. As a chennaite by heart and having grown up
in the Metropolis, any book about Chennai will surely pique both my curiosity
and a certain amount of dread for the author to get the facts about the city
right. No one can write a book based in the city without having experienced it
firsthand. As an outsider, the city shows its most welcoming colors to you and
makes you feel, if not ‘at home’, at least ‘most welcome’. But to really carry
the essence of the city in your writing, you have to live here and enjoy the
city at its best and worst. You have to walk its lanes, you have to savour its
cuisine, you have to be comfortable with the buses as well as the high end cars
that purr through the streets.
Thankfully,
the author (who is from Mylapore, a major area of Chennai famous for its
temples) manages to convince the Chennai-vasi (even though only a very few
scenes are based in the city, getting one fact wrong would have irked someone
like me). When I talk about Mylapore, how could the book not have at least one ‘Brahmin’
character in it? Yes, it has not one, but many characters of that caste, in
fact, the story centres around ‘TamBrahms’.
Enough
about the city. I might get carried away. The story starts in US, with Nithya,
supposedly happily married to Ashok, organising her house in preparation for the
imminent arrival of her mother in law. We are soon introduced to the rift in
the married life of Nithya, who is gritting her teeth because she does not want
to jeopardise the marriage of her sister and her husband’s sister by going for
a divorce. (The reason for the rift, and the social stigma still associated
with a divorcee in the family, especially the elder daughter are portrayed in a
relatable fashion).
The
apparent façade Nithya has built over her life in the US falls into pieces when
she encounters Vasu, a childhood friend who, if destiny had chosen otherwise,
she would now be married to. But the expected unrequited love angle does not arrive
then, though there is considerable build up of romantic tension. The veneer
breaks only when Vasu actually sees Ashok in a place that confirms the reason
for the rift in the marriage.
Vasu
confronts Nithya with the truth when she comes to India to attend her sister in
law’s marriage and she breaks down with the truth. She endures the torture of
her in laws over her apparent infertility and the scenes in the event of
marriage. At one breaking point, Nithya opts for a divorce, with Ashok giving
his mutual consent. What happens in her life after that and whether or not the
divorce comes through forms the rest of the story.
The
story and the plot is a typical Brahmin based plot, but addresses two major
issues that are considered a taboo even in this century. Read the book to know
more about this. But the author has managed to write about both the issues in a
thoroughly acceptable fashion, that leaves the reader nodding their heads in
agreement more often than not.
The
book needs to have a few words in the Tamil Brahmin slang to maintain nativity.
The author has included an index for reference, which most authors ignore to
provide. The plot is unique and deals with some issues that are usually swept
under the carpet. Kudos to the author for writing such a thoughtful book.
WHAT
I LIKED:
The
story and the scenes which are never over the top or larger than life.
WHAT
COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER:
Though it is
a small point not noticeable to anyone, there are a few glaring errors in the
use of the slang words, that is, maybe noticeable to only a chennaite or a
person belonging to the community portrayed. But these can be overlooked.
VERDICT:
Go for it.
This book might well be a really reflective read, based on your perception.
RATING:
4.3/5
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR:
Sumeetha
Manikandan, a freelance content writer is an English literature graduate with a
journalism and mass communication diploma. Married to film director K. S. Manikandan,
she lives in Mylapore, Chennai. After
working as a content manager in Sulekha.com and Clickjobs.com for over eight
years, she took a break from full-time work when her daughter Rakshah was born.
While
at home, she started writing for various websites and clients. Working on a wide
variety of content related projects for international clients, she established
herself as a freelance writer.
She
wrote her debut novel, ‘The Perfect Groom’ as a script for a serial. Set
against the backdrop of Mylapore’s Brahmin community, she sketches many
larger-than-life characters in this novella that will capture your imagination.
An
avid reader, she is never without a book to read. A temperamental writer, she
needs a lot of inspiration to write. She loves to watch movies with happy
endings, listens to instrumental music and old melodies. A shopaholic, she
loves to splurge on books and clothes.
EDITIONS
AVAILABLE: Digital
PRICE:
Rs.
175 for Kindle Edition
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