Equinox
by
Madhuri Maitra
MY REVIEW
I found the premise fascinating – very different from the stories that I have read. Curious, I jumped into the book on the day I received it.
The author’s language is good and her characters come alive. Rambler AKA John Kutty from Kerala – who’s been around the world, is very real.
The reader cannot help feel bad for the lonely ex-army man Vikram. The way he tries to write a book about his life is truly fascinating.
Maria & Jerry Souza face trouble when one of their foreign guests dies on their hotel premises. Will that make a good story? Depends how it’s written.
Ruchi is a young woman on the threshold of having her marriage arranged. As she works hard to write a story for the Equinox contest, her mother steamrollers her into taking a babysitting job. With a boyfriend who’s fast losing interest in her, will she find happiness in an arranged match? Or will she go on to win the short story contest?
There are more such characters who are doing their best to write a short story of 3000 words. The author has shown how all of them – from different backgrounds – run through many different ideas.
Some of them can write, while the others are more interested in the cash prize than the art of creating a story. Very realistic premise, beautifully articulated by Madhuri Maitra; making the book so interesting a read that you don’t want to put it down.
I found a couple of sequences that didn’t gel – the judges start to list the finalists at one point and we still see someone writing the contest story after that.
I wish more care had been taken while using fonts in creating the book. I noticed at least three different fonts in various sizes. It truly grates! Though it’s no fault of the author’s.
VERDICT: Go for it if you like a light, fun read.
Disclaimer: I received a paperback of this book from the author via The Book Club in return for an honest review.
The Blurb
When Indus Publishers announces a short story competition, it affects the lives of the ensemble cast in unexpected ways. A jaded journalist, a bored housewife, a starry-eyed ambitious girl, an army colonel, an impoverished divorcee-all enter the competition for pressing reasons of their own. They emerge with only slightly deeper pockets than they had but far richer in experience. Social issues are explored in an engaging manner, entwined in the lives of the characters-this is indeed the way of life. The novel also promises an enchanting look at the diversity in India; the characters belong to different Indian states and embody the peculiarities of the people of that region. Equinox and its checkered characters step to music of their own; many readers will find that it resonates with their own inner music.
Buy @
Meet the Author
Always an avid reader, dreaming of delighting her own readers someday, Madhuri published her first two books in 2014. Haiku and other Micropoetry is a collection of short verse on nature and on life; while Equinox is a novel dealing with urban realities. While the former is pithy and thought-provoking, the latter is a simple reflection of modern lives.
Madhuri lives and teaches in Pune. Films are as close to her heart as books are; she teaches Film Appreciation in addition to Creative Writing. She enjoys bringing her favourite authors and films
to young minds. She also conducts workshops for children and adults. She has also written and published papers on films and on writing. Visit her website http://of-prose-and-poetry.com/#/otherpublications for details.
She is currently enjoying the monsoon, immersing herself in her personal library and nurturing
ideas for her third book.
Madhuri lives and teaches in Pune. Films are as close to her heart as books are; she teaches Film Appreciation in addition to Creative Writing. She enjoys bringing her favourite authors and films
to young minds. She also conducts workshops for children and adults. She has also written and published papers on films and on writing. Visit her website http://of-prose-and-poetry.com/#/otherpublications for details.
She is currently enjoying the monsoon, immersing herself in her personal library and nurturing
ideas for her third book.
You can stalk her @
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