The Bestseller She Wrote by Ravi Subramanian
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The author is a well known star writer from South India, also known as John Grisham of India, who spent most of his professional life in senior positions of Indian national banks, after his management degree from IIM, Bangalore. His previous books have National award winning status. His fans and film producers eagerly wait for his next creation always.

Storyline:

Aditya Kapoor, Director of Branch Banking of National Bank in India, is a successful banker and also a successful writer, as his favourite past time. In one of the Alumni guest lectures of IIM Bangalore, he encounters a young beautiful student, Shreya, in the audience, who aspires to be a star author herself. Their unsolicited frequent encounters later, evolve into a passion filled romance, surpassing all limits from both sides. Shreya, cleverly uses Aditya’s lusty love and stature in getting a job in National Bank, simultaneously paving her way to achieve stardom with her debut novel. Ignorant of this plot from the innocent looking Shreya, Aditya goes all out in helping her achieve her goal even by cheating her faithful wife and son. One day, his wife Maya discovers Aditya’s amour with his colleague and confronts him by evicting him out of her house. Just at that time, she accidentally, gets infected with Ebola virus in France while attending an international training program. Aditya, soon realizes his blunder and pleads Maya to forgive him, while she is on her death bed. He now also realizes how Shreya used him to achieve her goal and also discovers another shocking fact how his close friend and colleague, Sanjay used Shreya to distance Aditya from Maya, out of the former’s teenage love on Maya, before Aditya met her. Aditya waits for a right chance and strategically makes all the plots against him public, in front of the Police, thus ending the careers of all his opponents. He re-unites with Maya and quits banking to lead a peaceful life by joining Maya in educating poor slum dwelling children and also pursuing his dream profession of writing.

Pros: As usual, the mind twisting imagination of the author awes the reader in this book also. The author brought out this bold story in times when such situations like lusting for beautiful and sexy colleagues in the office, by seniors, has become a norm in the professional world. It is also true many times, that young women like Shreya, use their sensuality to seduce their seniors in achieving their goals in the organization or personal lives, destroying the values and ethics of marriage, friendship and camaraderie. On the other hand, we still have faithful wives like Maya who break emotionally and lead pathetic lives even after their husband come back to them, as the trust once broken is always broken. The author is successful in highlighting the pristine purity of love in trust filled marriage and dirty ambitions of lust filled temporary extra marital affairs.
I seriously recommend this book to all professionals in today’s world, just as an effort to save the last remaining traditions and cultures that bind two people and later, families on a larger scale. I bet that there are many such victims of such extra marital adulterous affairs in the professional world who are living their remaining lives in hiding or in utter shame, after having lost, all their name and fame. This book is a lesson to many out there who choose wavering girl friends over conscientious wives.
Lastly, one gets to know the nitty gritties of publishing industry in India

Cons: Though the author brought the best of his abilities in using technology (mostly I Phones) to solve the plots in many of his books, I somehow feel that it is becoming routine. There is no notable emotion or wild hatred shown by Aditya, in the literature, after he discovers Shreya’s motive behind using him, like the same shown in the words of Maya, after she finds out Aditya’s affair. It should have been harder, at least after the book launch session, for better result. The author might have felt that the book has a happy-ending but I felt that it has bitter ending as it is a Lose-Lose situation to all the characters though its presentation appears as Win-Win to all.

The best quotes in the book:

“In relationships, particularly those that are adulterous in nature, the first time is always the most difficult. That’s the point in time when one’s conscience makes its presence felt the most and people are consumed by regret. Once that bridge is crossed regret is often forgotten.”

“The instincts of the wife, when it comes to issues that concern her husband are stronger than those of even the best astrologers”

“The problem with trust is that if it is broken, then all acts committed by the perpetrator come under the purview of suspicion”

“Nothing in life can put you in an inextricable position unless you yourself want to be in such a position”

“There is more strength in forgiveness than in walking away”


My rating is 3.75 out of 5


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