The Gray area- the place between black and white, that’s the place where life happens.
Justin Timberlake
Best Intentions by Simran Dhir
Summary
Gayatri Mehra is tired of her parents trying to find her a suitable husband. She would much rather focus on the history journal she edits and leaves the happily-ever-after to Nandini and Amar, her newly married sister and brother-in-law. But when the journal faces pressure to fall in line with the right-wing SSP, headed by a corrupt godman, Gayatri is forced to seek help from Akshay Grewal, Amar’s brother and elder son of lawyer-turned-politician Gyan Singh Grewal.
Gayatri finds Akshay arrogant and unprincipled; he thinks she is naive and self-righteous.
Enter Vikram Gera, a self-made banker willing to go to any lengths to break into Delhi’s elite circles, even if it means stringing Gayatri along.
As Gayatri and Akshay come together to salvage the situation at the journal, they realize that their siblings’ marriage is coming undone.
Politics, ambition and hard truths collide, and familial bonds are tested. But as they navigate this complex world, Akshay and Gayatri learn that while some things can’t be fixed, love often finds a way.
Best Intentions is a sharply observed and compulsively readable novel of manners marking the arrival of an accomplished new voice.
Indeed, we have all got both light and dark inside us. What matters truly, in the end, is the part we choose to act on. That is who we really are.
Just finished reading this fabulous book by Simran Dhir titled Best Intentions. An eclectic, interesting mix of romance, politics, fiction as well as all those sub-genres which are many a time present, but very subtly sidetracked, the weightage is given to other aspects. Gayatri, 32 and still single are busy escaping the tirade of concern her parents have over her is not married. She is focused for now on the history journal she is an editor of, leaving the mushy business of marriage to her sister Nandini and her husband Amar. However, when her journal faces political pressures, she seeks help from Akshay, Amar’s elder brother who belongs to a family of top-notch lawyers. Not to forget the complete Punjabi backdrop Simran manages to give through Nandini’s wedding and the political side of big shot families alongside as well.
The writing is enticing, it has a certain aura to it. Simran has not only managed to blend different facets such as politics, romance and such others effortlessly, she has also highlighted that sometimes all that appears is not what it actually is. Circumstances often force people to become the best or worst versions of themselves. When truth happens to have a collision and face off with hard ambitions in the garb of politics, not only does everything get at stake but families go for a toss as well.
Not only have the murky secrets of the most elite been laid out bare for all to read in this piece of writing but also a true litmus check on what does a love marriage actually hold before and after it transpires. How politics, agreed for fulfilling ambitions and desire for power and fame can make a person go astray and how we are sorely misguided by the best of our own choices is what constitutes the core of this one.
READ: Book Review of The Blind Matriarch by Namita Gokhale
A flawless, sensible and beautiful piece of writing. One that encapsulates so much with a single hand that am completely marvelled at the fact that how Simran managed to juxtapose something as powerful taking a fun backdrop of a Punjabi wedding, whilst still keeping the core ideas and essence of the book intact. It is not always easy to write and handle such sensitive topics without taking a biased stand, left or right. What is imperative to note here is that Simran manages to keep the tonality of the narrative as neutral as she powerfully superimposes the political ramifications as well as the eventualities arising out of such rendezvous as we might have come across in real life. A sincere attempt at portraying a true, unaltered political as well as a sad societal state of affairs even as far as the obnoxious, as well as orthodox mentalities, go.
It was a roller coaster with so much colour and hues that one cannot help but be left gasping for breath towards the end, mulling over the ramifications of what just hit them.
It is an amazing read, one which you definitely cannot miss.
I hope you like the book review of Best Intentions by Simran Dhir. Do let us know what you think in the comments.
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An internationally accredited book blogger, voracious reader and the founder of Booxoul, one of India’s leading book and lifestyle blogs, Neelam is a person with a penchant for bringing out the best in people. A website designer, a renowned book blogger and a leading creative influencer on Instagram, here is a lady who is candid, closer to life and sensitive to the softest of emotions…
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