 |
| 'The Bestseller She Wrote' by Ravi Subramanium |
I have always been a sucker for a good story, and I love to indulge in books but work and family responsibilities kept me so busy the last few months that finding time for reading became a challenge. It had been quite a while since I read a book. So I was itching to get my hands on a good one. That's when Blogadda gave me this opportunity to read and review Ravi Subramanian's latest novel - The Bestseller She Wrote. I jumped at the idea and gleefully accepted their offer with both hands. Ravi Subramanian is a wonderful story-teller and has earned a reputation for writing crime fiction revolving around banking. His last book, "God is a gamer" was a fascinating read. All of his previous novels, for that matter, were well-received and appreciated by the readers. He is quite a master at weaving suspense thrillers packed with intriguing characters and twists and turns aplenty. That's the reason he is also popularly known as (and deservingly so) the John Grisham of financial thrillers in India.
But surprise, surprise! This time his novel was not going to be a crime thriller, but instead was a romantic story that revolved around two writers and the publication world. "Hmm, that's interesting," I said to myself. I knew not what to expect because Mr. Subramanian had never before delved into the genre of romance but with an open mind, I picked up the book.
Mr. Subramanian started off well with the first few chapters, and thus piqued my interest. I was eager to know how the story would unfold but sadly as it went on, I felt bored, the plot became somewhat predictable.
The main protagonist, Aditya Kapoor, is not only a successful banker but also happens to be a bestselling author. He has a perfect family - a loving wife and a cute son and a perfect life as well. Until of course his path crosses with that of Shreya. Shreya Kaushik is a MBA student at IIM, Bangalore and is not just intelligent and beautiful, but is very ambitious as well. She aspires to be a bestselling author someday.
While addressing the students during a visit to IIM Bangalore, Aditya gets interrupted by Shreya and they get into an argument because of which Aditya gets upset. He feels bad that though she had never read any of his books before, she was still passing a judgement on his talent. The IIMB authorities too get irked by Shreya's misbehaviour. When she comes to know that they were mulling over disciplinary action against her, she decides to stay up all night and read Aditya's most recent book. She gets so impressed by Aditya's writing that she instantly becomes his fan and sends him an email, expressing regret for her earlier misbehaviour. Aditya too decides to bury the hatchet and let it go for he was feeling happy and victorious at having won over a critic.
A few days later Shreya gets hired into Aditya's company while he and his friend Sanjay had gone to IIM Bangalore. As days pass by, Aditya and Shreya become good friends and in no time, Aditya gets into an extra marital affair with her. All this while, Shreya constantly keeps on pestering Aditya to guide her in becoming a bestselling author. But one day Maya finds out about his affair and is left devastated.
Whether Maya and Aditya get divorced or he makes amends for his mistake and goes back to his doting family; whether Shreya indeed becomes a bestselling author or fails to realise her ambition is what the story is all about. It's about ambition, desire, and the extent to which some people go, to realise their dreams; it's also about standing with your family and so also about the guilt of cheating and correcting it.
Things I liked about the book -
Through this story, Mr. Subramanian tries to impart the message that taking shortcuts to fulfill one's dreams is not the way to go and success attained that way won't last for long. Shreya aspires to become a best-selling author one day and to fulfill her ambition, she uses Aditya as a stepping-stone. However she ends up becoming a one-hit wonder!
Things I didn't like -
Unlike his previous novels, the story line wasn't that gripping, it couldn't keep me engaged. No doubt, Mr. Ravi Subramanian deserves an applause for experimenting and diving into an unknown territory (romance genre) but had he put in a bit more effort, both his characters as well as the plot would have come out more beautiful. For instance, he could have shaped and developed the other characters like that of Maya a bit more. I also felt that he overdid the steamy parts in the story, they could have been done away with.
My verdict -
It's a one-time read, it could have been better. I expected a lot more from Mr. Subramanian. Unlike his previous stories, this one doesn't keep one on the edge of the seat. Though Mr. Subramanian narrates the story well but he could have improvised on the plot and could have made it in a much better way. Well although the plot is predictable, however the pace doesn't slack and is fast enough to finish in one sitting. So if you are looking for a light read, you can surely go for this book.
