Book Review: Where The Rainbow Ends
Does the title sound gloomy? Perhaps…but life isn’t always about roses and dreams, nor is it about the seven shades of the rainbow. Sometimes we stumble at stark reality, while one’s head tells us this is real the heart refuses to accept it.
And that is what this new novel from Anurag Anand seems to tell us. Look beyond the rainbow and you will be surprised!
Rahul—the main character has everything going for him—a successful career, a loving wife, an affluent lifestyle and even a rich and influential father-in-law. But before he knows this perfect world of his begins to crumble down and this tryst with destiny leaves him bewildered. Will he be able to put back the pieces once more and carry on with life? Where The Rainbow Ends answers all the questions…
The novel begins with Rahul’s chance meeting with Avantika on-board a flight where she served as cabin crew. The entry of Avantika is like a whiff of fresh air in the lives of the lonely, divorced Rahul and his only child Myra. Shalini, his first love and estranged wife is a temperamental and haughty woman born into a family which exerted considerable power and influence. After the estrangement, Rahul suddenly finds himself at the crossroads…he loses his job and has to shift into a much smaller house and make do with a humbler lifestyle. To add to his woes, he discovers that Myra is suffering from a serious ailment and needs expensive medical care. Avantika, to whom Rahul turns to for all his problems promises to help him with her savings. But, soon after this Avantika mysteriously disappears and Rahul finds himself in Delhi searching for her. He meets his childhood mate Anand who is a police officer now and both of them find out certain startling revelations about Avantika from a woman named Rhea. He returns to Mumbai where he gets a call from a renowned lawyer who hands him Avantika’s letter. Things seem to have turned around for Rahul once again though cruel reality had struck its blow again somewhere!
Where The Rainbow Ends is a simple tale of love and life depicted in an extraordinary way. What appears to be a humdrum boy meets girl story at first turns into a complex maze of attraction, greed, power, politics and social reality as the plot progresses. Written in the first person Rahul establishes a rapport with the reader. The style is a rather straightforward narration of events and is not quite exceptional. The characters are created right out of the world we all know. Shalini’s rich and powerful father or Poka – the flirty and debauched friend of Rahul are characters we almost always meet in the social circuit of Delhi. Avantika’s character comes across as a figment of the writer’s imagination at times but in the end she seems to be the only one who holds the story together.
Anurag Anand succeeds in keeping the interest alive and through a simple storyline creates a poignant tale of love and loss.
Title: Where The Rainbow Ends
Author: Anurag Anand
Publisher/ Imprint: 200
Genre/ Sub-Genre: Fiction/ Romance
Rating: 2.75 of 5
Reviewed for: Author
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