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Book Review: Love Again by Sumeetha Manikandan and Shrruti Patole Clarence

Greetings People,
Presenting the Book Review of Love Again.
Read about the story and authors at Spotlight: Love Again by Sumeetha Manikandan and Shrruti Patole Clarence



The Story:
This is a double header book, meaning two authors each contributing a story.
Story 1: These Lines of Mehendi by Sumeetha Manikandan is based on a real life story. Its about a marriage of convenience between Lalitha who is a beautician by profession and suddenly becomes a widow when her estranged husband commits suicide. Her parlour business which was once going steady as she was a married woman albeit not living with her husband suddenly goes towards bankruptcy cause now no one will let her near Brides. She cant think of how to revive the business. Then there is Shrikanth, a USA based businessman who has sworn off marriage after been jilted at the altar but is now forced to get married so that his mother agrees to treatment abroad for cancer. Both need to get married but are averse to the idea. They tie the knot on terms of marriage of convenience. Does that even work or exist? Read the story to find out.

Story 2: A Tulip in the Desert by Shrruti Patole Clarence is a nice paranormal story with Egyptian background. It is based on Cleopatra and her suicide. Charmaine relocates with her parents to Amsterdam when she is a child. She is always fascinated with history & mythology. Every time she reads about Cleopatra or Egypt she gets flashes of memory which are very familiar. She stares at paintings for ages from that era. Her best friend Ira is confused sometimes when Charmaine talks as if in a trance. Raj joins the same university and opts for the same classes. He too feels a pull towards Marc Antony and the Cleopatra love story. Both Charmaine and Raj are trying to find something from the past. Do they find it and what about the Present and Future?



What I liked:
Story 1: Simple language and smooth flow. The double standards of society are shown perfectly. Loved all the characters. The lovemaking scenes were not cliche. I read them couple of times ;) The warmth of the family towards Lalitha could be felt within words and was endearing. Loved the way Lalitha's profession and her efforts are shown. Lot of research has gone into that, is obvious. Also it was fun reading the chat,mail exchange between Lalitha and Shrikanth, reminded me of my courtship period :)

Story 2: Beautiful description of places. Charmaine's feelings and confusion well depicted. I have never read about Cleopatra apart from her bewitching beauty, so this story was a real informative read for me. Lot of research has been done by Shruti for stating all the happenings of those times, Cleopatra, Marc Antony,... Lovely story, I dont want to let out spoilers :)

What I wanted more:
Story 1: Deepa was a leech, I used to get angry whenever she came up but thats what the author wanted readers to feel about her. So Good Job on that :) The names of Shrikanth, Shrimati and Shrikala caused confusion. I was glad Shrikanth was persistent in apologizing to Lalitha for the misunderstanding. I hoped Nandini will be given a fitting punishment, can we?

Story 2: Sometimes during the history dose I wanted to whisper 'Cut to the chase'. The method of showing the current scenario, then rewinding it and then explaining the scenario was annoying. Anuj's entry was confusing as a result. Also in last few chapters the current and past events interlaced so much it was difficult to follow.

Do pick up this book from:

                          


We have 3 books stacked up for reading and many more getting Spotlighted. Check out entire blog for more interesting titles.

Bye. Take care.

Comments

Thanks for this lovely review Nilima.
NAV said…
Welcome Sumeetha. My pleasure :)