G96 E-Reading: Book Review of The Plunge by Sindhu S

Name of Book: The Plunge

Author: Sindhu S

ISBN: 9781461159254

Publisher: self published?

Type of book: 2000-2004? 2008? India, Shimla, adultery, obsession, affair, relationship status, marriage, friendship

Year it was published: 2013

Summary:

Love is madness…
When a thirty-something journalist Anjali meets the charismatic Siddharth, she has no intention of becoming romantically involved with him. Anjali is a strong, independent woman, angered by the man’s world she lives in and traumatised by events in her past. She has no desire to fall in love.
Anjali is certain that, after months of chatting online, when she finally meets Siddharth the charm will be broken. But she is surprised to find herself attracted to him – and shocked when they fall into bed together on their first date. Seized by new emotions that go against everything she believes in, Anjali is caught in a battle between her head and her heart, between love and self-protection.
For the first time in her life, Anjali is at the mercy of her emotions and desires…and as she plunges into an affair with a man she knows little about, she risks losing everything.
Set in India, The Plunge is a frank and powerful examination of modern relationships that every woman will identify with. Told with astonishing emotional insight, this debut novel will take your breath away.

Characters:

The characters are rounded and multi-faceted mainly due to Anjali that undergoes a 360 degree turn when she starts being with Siddharth. Anjali had a horrible sexual past which she does relate to the reader, but she always emphasizes how different and how much better Siddharth is. After a while that part got annoying quickly. She also starts to obsess about him and before long she is not happy with the relationship. Siddharth acts either hot or cold and for him its a casual relationship. (Apparently he likes to have cake and have more cake,) He has no compulsion on morals and until the end never feels he did anything wrong with Anjali.

Theme:

It's not okay to have an affair if you are married, and affair involves more than just sex.

Plot:

This is written in third person narrative from Anjali's, Swapna's and Siddharth's points of view. I felt that Siddharth in particular, has been written clumsily and very little is known or told from his point of view. The times the reader does get a glimpse of Siddharth he likes and is happy with Anjali, while Anjali feels unhappy and despondent as well as insecure about her relationship to him. The transitions from one point of view to another is done clumsily. When I first started to read the book, I didn't understand which character I should focus on: is it Anjali or Swapna?

Author Information:
(from goodreads.com)

born
in Thiruvananthapuram, India

gender
female

website
http://www.sindhuspace.wordpress.com

twitter username
Sindhu S.

genre
Fiction, Ebooks, Memoir

member since
July 2010

Opinion:

This is a remarkable book that details the relationship of being an "other woman" and the author toys with the ideas of obsessions, belonging and dark sexual history. I felt there did tend to be repetition and disorder in a lot of parts. The book also delivers a history of Shimla in India and the ending was interesting although in a way I felt it was an open ending.

Quick notes: I would like to thank the author for the opportunity to read and review the book.

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)