Sunday 20 March 2016

BOOK REVIEW OF LOVE, AGAIN.



LOVE, AGAIN 
BY 
SUMEETHA MANIKANDAN & 
SHRRUTI PATOLE CLARENCE

Blurb 
Life is tough, and it becomes tougher when you need to make life changing decisions. Would you dare to love again? Would you allow yourself to be loved and to be cherished again? Many of us turn away from life, thinking that it is not for them but some take a leap of faith rewrite their story for the sake of love? 

Love, Again is a double header book bringing you two stories about chancing love again -These Lines of Mehendi by Sumeetha Manikandan and A Tulip in the Desert by Shrruti Patole Clarence.

Buy @

Meet the Authors 

Sumeetha Manikandan 

Sumeetha Manikandan is a freelance writer and an author who loves to write and base her plots on the tambrahm community of Mylapore, Chennai. She is the author of ‘The Perfect Groom’ that has been a bestselling ebook on the top 50 charts of Amazon India ever since publication.

An avid reader, she loves to read across different genres – romance, historical fiction, non-fiction, mystery, fantasy etc. A history buff to the core,
she is currently translating Ponniyin Selvan – the evergreen tamil classic epic history by Kalki Krishnamurthy into English.

Married to film maker K.S. Manikandan, Sumeetha lives in Chennai, along with her six year old daughter.


                        

Shrruti Patole Clarence

Shrruti has been a voracious reader since early years and took to composing poems when she was very young.
An Aviation Manager and 10years with various airlines, she has been on a sabbatical for her two son's aged six years and 1 year respectively.
She enjoys this welcome break from career, to be able to pursue her passion, writing!
She has to her credit 6 short stories featuring in different Anthologies all published this year, one of which will soon be seen as a short movie.
And Love, Again a double header romance Novel publish date 25th May 2015, with her story A Tulip in the Desert will soon be seen on the stands!
Her lyrics feature in the theme song of group Young Indians – an off shoot of CII (Confederation of Indian Industries).
Her poems feature in Zest of Inklings and a Hindi poem in an e-book – Ehsaas, judged by eminent Urdu and Hindi screenwriter, dialogue writer and playwright - Javed Siddiqui.


Shrruti is a warm and friendly person who loves music and watching sports when she is not writing.



Love, Again is a novella comprising of two stories. The first one, These Mehendi Lines is by Sumeetha Manikandan and the second one, A Tulip in the Desert is written by Shrruti Patole Clarence.


These Mehendi Lines: 

The story is about Lalitha who has been widowed recently and how the stigma of being a widow affects every aspect of our life, even the business especially if you are in the beauty business. Our society is so soaked up in superstitions, beliefs and some redundant traditions that we are such an unhappy people who tend to make the lives of others miserable too. It does not matter if a woman is physically or mentally abused and tortured, she must bear it silently. It does not matter if her husband is a looser, drunkard or a leech, she should stick to him and carry on being a married woman rather than be ridiculed in the society as a woman who was abandoned by her husband. It is still a very big deal.

And Lalitha’s fate is similar too. Having left her husband after finding out that he was already in a relationship with his own sister-in-law, she finds solace in her work as a bridal makeup artist. She has a thriving business and her work is appreciated. But her fate changes after her husband commits suicide and she becomes a widow. It is considered inauspicious for a widow to dress up a bride and so her business suffers.
Then comes along Shrikanth, the guy ditched at the altar (almost) by his long time girlfriend and fiance and is afraid to get into a committed relationship. Circumstances bring Lalitha and Shrikant together and they get hitched. It is a marriage of convenience and her business improves once she is a married woman! 

And…everything ends well. The story is simple and gripping. Right doses of emotions and romance.  The characters are real and do justice to their roles. The editing is good making it an easy read. 


A Tulip In The Desert:

This story has a great storyline about reincarnation, soul mates and destiny. Charmine is a history undergraduate student who has visions from the past. She is Charmion, the confidant and the first maid of Queen Cleopatra of Egypt. It is the story about finding the love of her life again in Raj who was previously Rufio, the confidant of Marc Antony. It is also coming into terms with the reality of their re-birth.
This could have made a very good read if not for the editing. The transition from the present to the past is confusing. The scene and the dialogue between Charmion and Cleopatra are repeated so much that I could repeat it by heart. Anju’s entry is sudden and forced. 

Charmine is described as being beautiful with charming smile and sparkling eyes. That is what Raj and Anuj notice in her. But when it comes to Ira, Anuj notices her body first and then in the end, her eyes. I know it is far fetched, but make the guys fall in love with the intelligence and wit of a woman please…at least in the stories.




                 


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1 comment:

  1. Thank you Janaki for this lovely review. Very glad that you liked it.

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