The Mint

There is a place, somewhere between the complexity of highbrow literature and mindless prattle of chick-lit, where judicious stories of ordinary people can be told. Anita Nair slid into that place nine years ago when she published her breakout novel Ladies Coupe….Nair gives us a look into the lives that we now lead in cities. She makes a statement about the fragility of the modern Indian marriage and the overwhelming challenges of raising our children in a milieu we no longer have a handle on. When Meera ponders about where exactly she went wrong as a wife, it reflects our incomprehension of the role we are expected to play as a partner. As Jak retraces his daughter’s path, we think along with him about how much freedom we should allow our children.

The realistic portrayal of Nair’s character is inducement enough for the reader to keep turning the pages….—and is a perfect fit for those in-between times when Salman Rushdie seems too much and Sophie Kinsella too little.