Book Review:
Author: Anuja Chauhan
Publisher: Westland
Pages: 432
Blurb:
(Courtesy: Goodreads)
I'll make my sisters squirm
like well-salted earthworms. I won't sell. Even my jutti wont sell. And if I
die na, then even my gosht won't sell! The late Binodini Thakur had been very
clear that she would never agree to sell her hissa in her Bauji's big old house
on Hailey Road. And her daughter Bonu, is determined to honor her mothers
wishes.
But what to do about her four
pushy aunts who are insisting she sell? One is bald and stingy, one is jobless
and manless, one needs the money to 'save the nation' and one is stepmother to
Bonus childhood crush-brilliant young Bollywood director Samar Vir Singh, who
promised BJ upon his deathbed that he would get the house sold, divvy the money
equally and end all the bickering within the family.
The first word baby Bonu ever
spoke was 'Balls' and indeed, she is ballsy, bullshit-intolerant, brave and
beautiful. But is she strong enough to weather emotional blackmail by the
spadefull? Not to mention shady builders, wily politicians, spies, lies and the
knee-buckling hotness of Samars intense eyes? Sharply observed and
pulse-quickeningly romantic, this is Anuja Chauhan writing at her sparkling
best!
My Review
After immensely enjoying Those
Pricey Thakur Girls and that tantalizing paragraph about the sequel featuring
Samar and Bonu, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the ‘The House That BJ
Built’. In this much-awaited book, Anuja Chauhan focusses her imagination on
society’s obsession with property, heirs and hissa(s).
The plot has three threads
running, Samar’s quest for making a film which is authentic and true to life
and his pledge to BJ, his grandfather; Bonita aka Bonu’s self-oath on honoring
her late mother’s wishes; and external forces like chachaji, Tringjis, Mushtaq
Bhai, which were working against the Thakur girls. Amongst this chaos the
romance blooming between Samar and Bonu, and… surprise, surprise between Eshwari
and Satish or shall I say Steesh.
The story is written in
typical Anuja Chauhan’s style which brings on smiles and at times invokes
laughter. Bonita is today’s girl who can recite poems with BJ, run a business
and take a stand. Samar is the hot big-shot film director, who puts even the nation’s
heart-throb Zeeshan to sidelines with his charm and affinity towards his
priorities and values.
The story started very well
with focus on the lead pair Samar Vir Singh and Bonita Singh Rajawat, but
mid-way somewhere I realized I was reading more about Chachi, Anjini, Chandu
and all. In the main plot of selling the house and the lawsuit only original
Thakur girls and Chacha’s family were involved, Bonu and Samar were nowhere
into picture!
Bonu’s resentment and
confusion is understandable in the light of years of neglect by her mausis and the
passionate rant fed to her by her mother, in her formative years. But why did
the mausis never paid attention to the orphaned child, it is surprising because
it goes against the characters’ of Anjini, Debjani and Eshwari.
I also couldn’t understand why
Samar, who seemed to be a levelheaded guy, turned into a mob-pacifying
stuntman. He kept appearing and disappearing in between scenes either in Mumbai
or in Delhi that it was difficult keeping track.
In a Rom-Com the expectation
is an equal dosage of romance and comedy, but for me THTBB is more com-com with
a random sprinkling of ‘rom’, which also, it seemed, was on budget. It was as
if the author is shying away the moment the rom-pairs came together in the
scenes.
About the
Author:
Anuja Chauhan is an Indian
author and advertiser. She worked in the advertising agency, JWT India, for
over 17 years. She has written 3 novels, The Zoya Factor (2008), Battle For
Bittora (October 2010) and Those Pricey Thakur Girls (January 2013). All three
books are romances.
No comments:
Post a Comment