Book Review: A SILVER DAWN by Leena Varghese

The author approached me for a review of this book. After reading the blurb, I immediately agreed and I am glad that I did.

The story opens with a teenage Clarissa who’s the only child of the super rich Milagres family in Goa. The lovely Clarissa is keen to become a ballerina while her parents aren’t for the idea. An orphan, heart-broken boy sees Clarissa dancing by herself in her garden and finds solace in the joy and peace surrounding her. He gets to meet her too. But after that, their lives take them down different paths.

The story continues ten years later. The Milagres family isn’t rich any more. Clarissa has escaped a violent marriage and runs a dance school along with Tony. Igor Chekanov is keen to buy the Milagres estate and also eyeing to bed Clarissa. And then there’s business tycoon Leon Rodriguez, who offers to marry her. Will Clarissa agree to the proposal? She believes that Leon is also after her property and doesn’t trust him at all. And then there is her aversion to marriage...

I like Leena Varghese’s style of writing as it flows freely along the pages, pulling the reader into her story. With every page, I wanted to know more. Yes, I could second guess some of the story, but that is absolutely beside the point. The language is perfect while the book is well-edited and proof-read, which goes a very long way in its favour.

The build up of the relationship between the protagonists, the conflict, the way Clarissa’s desperate attempt at rescue brings forth a solution to her, all make for a wonderful story. I liked Leon’s brooding character and the chemistry he shares with Clarissa. Then there’s Tony for the light moments. I would love to read the story if Leena Varghese writes one with Tony as the main character.

There’s a lot of heart in this tale and I could truly connect to it.

VERDICT: A must read!

The Blurb:

Talented choreographer Clarissa Milagres Silvera is beautiful, young and widowed – and intensely mistrustful of men. With a violent marriage behind her, she is now fiercely determined to be independent, both emotionally and financially.

Leon Rodriguez, hotelier tycoon with less than humble beginnings, has been drawn to her since he was a teenager. Now successful, he approaches Clary’s family for her hand in marriage. Even as he patiently woos his stoic love, Leon realizes he must protect her from the sadistic mafioso Igor Chekanov, who is eyeing Clary’s family estate.

Will Clary trust Leon enough to accept his love? Will Leon keep her safe regardless? What is Igor’s motive? Is time running out for them?

Buy your copy here:

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Disclaimer: I received a paperback version of the book from the author in return for my honest review. I didn’t receive any monetary compensation for the same.  

Blog Tour: THE REENGINEERS by Indu Muralidharan

The Reengineers

by 

Indu Muralidharan
A HarperCollins Publication (Harper Element)

My Review

Disclaimer: I received a free paperback copy of this book from the publisher via The Book Club in return for my honest review. I haven’t received any monetary compensation for the same.

I was curious to know more when I read the blurb. I think spirituality is an integral part of our lives, at all stages, not necessarily when we grow old. I liked the idea that the author has incorporated spirituality in transforming the lives of teenagers.

First of all, I am absolutely impressed by the flawless language and perfect proofing of the book. I rarely come across English books by Indian authors that have impeccable language. For this, I congratulate Indu Muralidharan. The book was a joy to read, without me wincing even once.

Set in 1990s Madras, the story is about Chinmay and his friends Anu (this is a guy) and Sabi (a girl). They are having study holidays before their tenth board exams. They are children from typical Indian families where the parents are under tremendous pressure to have their children succeed in every aspect of their lives. The three of them are sad as they feel the burden of their parental pressures. Chinmay feels it all the more as his parents are on their way to being divorced. He’s planning to commit suicide soon after the exams.

The three teenagers are studying in Chinmay’s uncle’s library when the door handle breaks and they are stuck in the room. While trying to leave by the backdoor, they land up at Conchpore, an imaginary town in Tamil Nadu.

They find themselves in the campus of the Seekers’ School and have the strangest of experiences in the next 24 hours that transforms their lives.

Whether their experience is real or a figment of their imaginations, the author has left the reader to decide. But what I liked is that the experiences change the teens so much that they look forward to their lives as against their depressed stands earlier.

The author has captured the behind-the-scenes story of spiritual cults to perfection. It’s nothing short of scary but the horrors are obviously real. Very well narrated!

Siddharth’s transformation from a depressed man to a confident one with the help of the “Professor” is inspiring. It’s influence on Chinmay is monumental. Though the “Professor” appears in but a few scenes, he truly leaves a mark.

This book is a must read for youngsters. It will help them see the world in a different light altogether.

All that said, somewhere the story that’s a fiction, gets preachy. I wish it had been dealt with differently so as not to seem as if I was being read a lecture.

I am glad that I got to read this one, definitely. 

Blurb 

Chinmay Narayan is plotting to kill himself. He is a misfit at school, his parents are about to divorce and the love of his life doesn’t know he exists. It seems pointless to go on with such a dysfunctional life. But before he gets anywhere with that plan, Chinmay and his friends, Anu and Sabi, stumble into the eerie world of Conchpore through a portal in Uncle RK’s library.

They find themselves in The Seeker’s School, where you can buy spiritual courses that will bring you enlightenment. While the seekers seem unaware that there is anything amiss, Chinmay and his friends stumble upon a strange and sinister plot that the teachers and students are caught up in. The three youngsters suddenly find themselves in danger, and their only hope is the charismatic Siddharth, an old student of the school who has come to visit. Chinmay discovers that Siddharth is seeking catharsis from his dark past by writing a book—a book with Chinmay as the protagonist. He realizes that his own story is a mirror image of Siddharth’s, which leads to a moment of reckoning for him: can he become the author of his own life?

Set in Madras in the early nineties, The Reengineers dispels the boundaries between fiction and reality to tell a tale that is as much a coming-of-age story as it is an inspiring narrative of self-empowerment and spiritual growth. 

Grab your Copy @

amazon.com | amazon.in | amazon.co.uk| flipkart

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

I am a writer from Chennai, India. To me, reading and writing are means by which I try to comprehend the meaning of life and reality. My first novel The Reengineers (HarperCollins, 2015) is a metafictional exploration of the meaning of the self, examined through the relationship between an author and the character of his novel. I am working on two other novels at the moment, both centred around the healing power of fiction and its significance in 'real' life.

I live in London, balancing a full time day job with writing and studying a part-time Master's Course in Creative Writing at The University of Oxford.

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Tornado Giveaway 2: Book No. 36: THE SECOND COMING by Shubha Menon

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Name of the Book: THE SECOND COMING
Author: Shubha Menon

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The Story:

A wedding planner who believes in fairytale weddings, Mini yearns for romance in her own marriage. The magic of the initial years has vanished, leaving behind a hunger that she assuages with chocolate. Mini would love to change her situation, but she is over the hill, overweight and under confident. The chances of having a hot affair with a happening man are dim, if not non-existent.

An erstwhile royal scion decides to wed a Bollywood starlet and Mini is sent to Mumbai to plan the celebrations. The manager of the Mumbai office is young Rustom, the answer to Mini’s secret dreams. Goaded by impending menopause, Mini decides it’s now or never. She simply has to take a second stab at romance.

Rustom is a ladies man. He is also married, and a skirt chaser. Mini decides to shape up and get into the kind of skirts Rustom would want to chase.

Working together closely, Rustom and Mini fall into each others’ arms. Meanwhile, her husband gets wind of the affair and tries to reclaim her. Now Mini must choose between heady romance and steady matrimony.

But soon, Mini discovers that her romantic idol has feet of clay. In a dramatic end, the trusty husband stages a timely rescue. And Mini learns that a rock solid husband is worth many a dream lover.

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About The Author 

Shubha Menon 

Shubha Menon is a Senior Creative Director with Ogilvy Delhi. She has been born and brought up in New Delhi and loves the city for its trees, spring flowers and most of all, for the buffet of cultural events it offers.

A self-confessed workshop junkie, she has attended weekend classes on screenplay writing, film appreciation, yoga, Buddhism, Sufism, chakra healing and salsa, among others.

Her favourite thing on earth is to read. She is also crazy about Dachshunds, flowers, babies, quawaalis and shoes.  She hates horror movies and ghost stories. Her other bugbear is Mathematics and numbers give her a headache.

She lives in Delhi with her husband, daughter and two dogs.

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The Story:

This is not your typical boy-meets-girl story. Okay, they do meet, but there are some complications.

Trish is twenty-eight. She’s unemployed, overweight, single and snarky. She knows all that. And if one more person – just one more person – tries to fix her, she might explode. Sahil is thirty-five. He has superpowers. Well, kind of. He seems to think so, anyway. He’s also hot (okay, in a geeky kind of way, but still). And he plays the guitar, helps the underprivileged and talks about his feelings. Aren’t guys like that supposed to exist only in fantasies?

When Trish and Sahil meet, magic happens. Real magic, you know, like fireworks, electricity, that sort of thing. But here’s the problem. Trish doesn’t want anyone in her life. She has enough to deal with – dependent parents, flaky neighbours, bitchy editors, the works. And yet, Sahil is determined to be in her life.

From the bestselling author of Just Married, Please Excuse and Sorting Out Sid, here is another zinger of a book.

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About The Author 

Yashodhara Lal 

Yashodhara Lal's USP is in taking the ordinary and making it hilarious. She graduated from IIM-Bangalore in 2002 and has over 12 years of experience in the Marketing Domain across two large corporations in FMCG and media. She lives in Gurgaon with her husband Vijay, and the three small children they call Peanut, Pickle and Papad - all of whom never fail to provide her with material for her entertaining blog at http://www.yashodharalal.com.

'Just Married, Please Excuse' is her first book. 'Sorting Out Sid' is her latest work of fiction.

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