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Blurb View:
A chance meeting between Avinash Vyas, a married man and Sangeet Mishra, a young divorced woman turns into something more than what they had ever wanted or asked for. Both part ways, nurturing a dislike for the other in their hearts. They meet again under different circumstances. Their prejudices keep them away until both learn that they had committed similar offences in the past that had not been fully dealt with. It was a past they wanted to avoid. What was their offence? Why do people marry? What is the relevance of the institution of marriage in modern times? Bestselling novelist Sujata Parashar’s third novel attempts to answer these questions and more as she takes you through the intricacies of modern day relationships.
Review:
Even before I opened the book, I was totally enamoured by the cover design. It appears elegant, exquisite and desolate at the same instant, carrying the promise of an extraordinary story. The blurb looked promising too with interesting situations & questions. ‘Why do people marry?’ – that is indeed a relevant query in our contemporary lives. Overall the book flaunts the look of a romance novel.
We enter the world of Sangeet and Avinash – usual names but unusual people – through flashbacks and distinctly timed chapters. They seem to share some cosmic connection and keep bumping into each other, until they finally share an office, their time and their lives. Both have tumultuous pasts that are unravelled gradually. People, marriage, spouses, children, extra marital affairs are all intertwined to create a complex web of two distinct halves. While Sangeet’s half of the story is more traumatic, Avinash’s half speaks of unfulfilled emotions.
While the plot is quite a potful, I found the writing a little plain and linear. I haven’t read the author earlier and felt she believes in simple writing. The language is simple, and so is her choice of words. A few chapters could have been done with a little more drama and flair. The intense moments are diluted with too simple a presentation. I’m also tad disappointed with the form of conversations in the book. They appear imposed and artificial at times, when they required much eloquence and vice versa.
The author appeared to be hurried at a few places. There are editorial glitches, yes, quite unexpectedly. A few grammatical errors and typos strewn here and there don’t look good on the entire story. The climax is perhaps the crux of the story. It appears briefly in the first chapter and reappears with aplomb. Good one, there.
Recommended for romance buffs who love complications too.
My Rating: 3/5
About the Author:
Image Courtesy: Author
Sujata Parashar is a best-selling novelist, poet and activist. Her debut novel, In Pursuit of Infidelity (2009) was a bestseller. The second in the series, In Pursuit of Ecstasy (2011), was long listed for The Economist Crossword Book Award 2012. In Pursuit of a Lesser Offence, completes the ‘pursuit’ series. Her book on poetry, Poetry Out and Loud, was awarded the first prize in 2012 by Butterfly and the Bee, a literary agency.
Contact:
Website: http://sujataparashar.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4846146.Sujata_Parashar
Book Details:
Language: English, Genre: Fiction/Romance
Author(s): Sujata Parashar
Publisher: Alchemy, Year Published: 2014 January
Binding: Paperback, Edition: First, Pages: 263
ISBN-13: 9788192749112 , ISBN-10: 8192749118
Goodreads : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20681246-in-pursuit-of-a-lesser-offence
Buy Links:
Amazon : http://www.amazon.in/gp/product/8192749118/
Image Courtesy: b00kr3vi3ws.in
This review is also shared with the Indian Quills Reading Challenge at The Tales Pensieve and the First Reads Challenge at b00kr3vi3ws.
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