Conspiracy of Aunts as the name suggests is a rich weave of relations between women and their extended families accentuated with a lot of parties, chiffons and all that states upper crust. The book is written by Anjana Basu and published by Redomania. I received this book from Blogchatter. Check out the reviews
Book Blurb- Conspiracy of Aunts
What do you do when your aunts refuse to be separated from their ex-nephew-in-law? Shunu and Shreya are divorced and still in love. Divided by their egos and an uptight second wife. And then there are these conspiring aunts who want them to be together again.
Story Outline
The story is based in the upper social circles of Kolkatta. Shunu or Shantanu Mukherjee and Shreya were once in love now divorced couple. They are still in love but are divided by their egos. In the meantime Shunu has married the elegant and efficient Anisha – working in a 5-star hotel and extremely beautiful, yet distant.
However, Shreya’s aunts are sure that their niece has made a terrible mistake and Shunu is the one for her. They just can’t seem to let go of Shunu, and while floating around in same social circles at parties and concerts they seem to be conspiring to get him back! Will they succeed? Will Shunu and Shreya realize their folly? This is the crux of the story.
My Views about Conspiracy of Aunts
Just as you start reading and before being drawn into the social and private life of elite circles you have a fleeting recognition of the number of characters that the story involves. While the book talks about lace, fine china, champagne, and trips abroad- you can’t avoid but draw parallels between the life and status depicted in movies like Veere Di Wedding and Dil Dhadakne Do.
The main protagonists are the Aunts and they take so much of space in the narrative that Sheya and Shunu fleet in and out of the story. I would have loved to know more about their story. Like how they came together, what messed up their relationship and how strong do they feel about each other after divorce. While the characters of the aunts are well etched and strong, I can’t say the same about the couple.
The male characters of the novel have almost the similar space as much as an Ekta Kapoor serial offers their male leads screen space! This is a family saga and hence the author has to spend enough words in establishing and building individual characters and their dominance, however, a simple illustrated family tree could have saved some pages and attracted the reader’s attention.
The author has done a wonderful job of depicting most of her female characters in the book – Conspiracy of Aunts. Each has a distinct identity and their thought processes are well presented. The sublime way in which a person reacts to certain things or rituals, ostensibly to nurse their past sorrows/experiences is just fantastic. The women are fallible and comfortable in their skin which is a relief from the typical pedestal worshipping presentation.
Overall a light-fun read. This is more of a family drama than romance. I would rate this book a 3.5/5
Recently I have also read this book, and our thoughts echo.
Seems the plot revolves around female characters. Will save the book in my reading list. Thanks for the review !
As soon as I read the title of the book, I wanted to pick it up as my next read but now after reading your honest review, I am reconsidering my decision.
The cover certainly looks inviting. I guess it’s a light fun read. I’ll pick it up some time.
Nice and detailed review. I would recommend the book to the friends who like family drama with romance. If I talk about me I am not a big fan of family drama.
It is so good that for a change it is the aunts are bringing a couple together than swperating them. It’s like fresh breather.