In Review: Preeti Shenoy

I never really had heard of Preeti Shenoy, nor was she discussed in the circle of my friends. I accidentally chanced upon her book Life is What You Make It while browsing through Flipkart.com. Browsing through Flipkart is one of my favourite things to do when I have absolutely nothing else to do. I saw that this book was up for pre-order. I just thought Flipkart is promoting new talent. I was tempted but did not really buy the book at that point in time. Once the book was released, I read the initial reviews, all of which suggested that the book was really good. I loved Flipkart at that time for they would give very good discounts on books and saw that there was a good deal with Life is What You Make It as well and purchased it....and then I began following Preeti's works religiously.

What I noticed in Preeti's writing:

- I have read 3 books so far. All 3 of them were women-centric.
- The language is free-flowing and simple and casual but not too casual in the sense it is not loosely written.
- The stories that I have read so far are based on women of today so it very easy to relate to.

A brief review of Preeti's books (that I have read so far):

Life is What You Make It

This book bowled me over, for, before this book I never read a story like this before. It is about a woman with Bi-polar syndrome and how she is taught to overcome it. The writing is very heart-rending and I could really put myself in the place of the protagonist. Now, the funny thing about me is that whenever I read books describing disorders/diseases, I feel I am suffering from them too. So, you can understand how I must have felt while reading this book. When the main character suffered, I could experience it too. It is a possibility that this is one of the reasons why the book bowled me over. The story is one of a kind (at least for me). We do not associates these kind of stories from Indian writers. The writing is also quite positive and gives a lot of hope to people who suffer from the disease. 4.5/5 rating from me.

Tea for Two and a Piece of Cake

This book is another good work, however, I have not yet understood why the book has been titled the way it has been. It is not very obvious when you read the book. The story however is an important one. It is about a woman who gives up her career after marriage and becomes completely dependant on her husband. After a few years of marriage, she is faced with a divorce. Being completely dependant, she struggles to find her feet in the world following separation from her husband. The story is about how she manages to do it eventually. It indirectly tells you to treasure all skills you have learnt all through your life. It gives a message to all women on importance of financial independence and not to lose your identity after marriage. Quite a good book. The book is 4/5 rating from me.

The Secret Wish List

Of the 3 books, I would rate this book the least. It is somewhat similar to Tea for Two yet different. It is about a woman who feels oppressed and lacks respect in her marriage. Her life revolves around pleasing her husband and child. Through a series of unexpected events, she decides to live her life for herself and creates a wish list where she pens her desires. Though the concept was good I did not enjoy it as much as the other two books. The language is quite 'teen'. There are some errors in the book- for example- when Diksha (the main character) talks to herself, she calls herself Vibha and when Diksha and her husband are having a conversation, he calls her Vibha/Tanu etc. It startles one when one is reading. Besides, the way the progression of the story happens is not very interesting. It was non-putdownable as you are expecting something exciting or new to happen and it does not. Quite average considering the other books. 2.5/5 rating from me.

Apart from these, there is another book, 34 Bubblegums and Candies. I think it was her first book. It is a collection of short stories. A friend of mine read one of the stories in the book and shared that it was quite average. I will have to read it myself to ascertain the feedback.

Hope to read a new kind of work from Preeti soon.

I've Heard That Song Before- By Mary Higgins Clarke

This is the first book that I borrowed from the British Council Library in Hyderabad. I must also add that so far, this is the only book that I borrowed from this particular library and have managed to finish. I was suffering from a 'Reader's block' and this one help me get out of it. I am getting back to my block slowly so must find another book that can help me fight it.

Well, just because a book gets you out of a reader's block, it does not mean it is great.  This book was a good read but not an outstanding one. It is the first time that I read Mary Higgins Clark's work. The plot is good but a stereotype if you have read other books in this genre. It is a thriller. As I mentioned, the plot is a stereotype in the sense, you already know that the accused is not the one who did whatever he was accused of doing. I think a huge reason why this book would keep someone hooked until the end is the natural inquisitiveness that we as humans possess. We want to know who did it and why...

In brief and in an attempt to not reveal too much, it is a story about the rich Peter Carrington and a younger woman Kay. Peter is a sleep walker and in charged with 2 murders and as the story progresses people think he has actually committed them in a state of somnambulism. In the end, we know that he did not commit the crimes at all. The big questions are- who? how? why?

What I loved about the book is the description of the Carrington estate. It has been described simply and well and actually transported me to the place. The other thing that I liked was yet again- descriptions of food. The plot also has a well defined set of characters who do not keep increasing exponentially as the story progresses. Some of the books in the genre have innumerable number of characters and they only keep increasing during the course of the story that it clutters your mind and you sometimes need to go back and forth in the book just to make sure who is who.

What I think could have been much better- It starts of with Kay describing her town and Peter Carrington's past. Then it got a little confusing for me because she is not the only one narrating the story. So when I suddenly read something like (just an example)- 'Is Kay after the money? I must find out.' I wondered why she was doubting herself only to realise a little later that someone else was also doing the talking in the book. There are also some parts where the author is doing the story telling herself. It made me wonder if Mary Higgins Clark had taken a lot of big breaks while writing this one as she did not seem to remember how the story was being told and who was doing the talking.
Also, she has not paid too much of an attention towards developing the characters in the book. 

The book shares its title with an old song but has not been utilized very well. There is a clue hidden in the title but I could think of a thousand other titles for the book that would seem more relevant.

What was kind of strange - the police hardly seemed to have any power. All the investigation was done by the prosecutor, a guy named Nicholas Greco and Kay herself. Police just appeared to be carrying out orders issued by prosecutors and doing some amount of field work that they are expected to do at crime scenes. They did not seem interested in interrogation or any other cop-like stuff.

All things said and done, I have a mixed reaction towards the book. I would recommend it to others who are looking to kill time over the weekend but if you want to read it to activate the grey matter upstairs, this book is a big no-no. My rating- 2/5 stars.