The Tales Pensieve

Part of South Asian Challenge 2013

Title: Cold Feet
Author: Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan
Publisher: Penguin Books India
ISBN: 978-0-143-41720-0
Pages: 234
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3.5 of 5
Reviewed for: Mysmartprice.com

Chick Lit – Yes, that very insulting word for literature by any woman writer who dares write a story on fellow gender friends. Yes Cold Feet is a book by a woman about five women and at The Tales Pensieve we call this women literature. And actually one of the best in the genre I have read so far. I had read Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan’s You Are Here a long time back (before I turned a book reviewer and way before this magical world of The Tales Pensieve was founded) and I was only too excited to see her name flashed again in the new releases section in January 2013. The excitement was well worth it for she did not disappoint, infact I find that she has come a long way with her writing and characters having matured from where we left last time.

Cold Feet takes us through the lives of five women based in the mega metropolis – Mumbai and lead lives as varied as the shades of the city. Entwined in a strange way with each other all of them are struggling with or repenting for or waiting for or are in – Love. We have Amisha who has had her share of relationships and is now with her Mr. Perfect, all excited to tie the knot and take the relationship to the next level but is also developing cold feet and wants to push the boundaries of her relationship.
Shayna – young, beautiful and sexy – knows what she wants in her man and has had her share of those attributes in different men but finds her falling for someone who is fatherly. Having lost her father early and fiercely independent she is about to discover bliss in a socially forbidden relationship.
Akshara – beautiful and complete – in love with her best friend, who can hang out with her, confide in her even sleep with her but cannot be in love with her is finally figuring out how struck up in life she is. She decides to move on; she has to move on but how.
Ladli, heartbroken in Mumbai she is on a getaway to Goa; infact she is on a run-away in Goa only to find it come about in many forms – a twice married greek man with a fascination for south Asian women or an old, known family friend. The right choice may still save her heart from another cracking.
And finally the girl who wants Shanaya, who stalks Shanaya and only thinks about Shanaya has got all of it wrong. The priorities, the wants, the desires – everything. Literally in house attest after shocking her parents with declaration on her sexuality preferences, love may just appear in a form not very dreamy but love alright.

Meenakshi takes us on a roller coaster ride of emotions and situations we humans tend to tangle ourselves in. There is a whole spectrum of emotions we are exposed to in the book, each giving us insight into the human psyche and how emotions are what make us. Break us. Are us. It does go a bit off track once-in-a-while but ties up together in the end and makes for a breezy, insightful read. It is definitely not mindless as is the bane of the genre and keeps the excitement of where will this lead to on. A journey that keeps implying finding self is the longest and best journey we all take.

Happy Reading.

Best Price iRecommend: Buy Cold Feet from uRead.com

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