So, the year is coming to an end and we must be preparing ourselves for the new year. However, for the readers around the clock, there is nothing that stops them from reading what they like. And for readers who match the description above, I recommend another wonderful book that they can finish just before the year ends, on a positive and light note… see this horrible year off with some amusement, romance and a little sensitive sets of conversation that bring many issues to the fore. Srinithya Srinivasan’s debut novel, Marry Me, Ms. Stranger, has been published recently and the book has been read by many readers who enjoyed the free copy during the giveaway. If you haven’t read the novel yet, here is a review which might help you identify if you are an ideal reader for this one.

To begin with, Srinithya’s novel is a literary extension to the raw thoughts that many of us have about marriage… her novel provides a concrete fictional vessel to the ordinary thoughts of every common woman in India.

Marry Me, Ms. Stranger has a very distinct feature that many of the readers would mark in the very first glance. The novel’s title is from the man’s perspective and, in this case, the male protagonist’s – Aman Rajpoot Singh. However, the novel is written by Srinithya Srinivasan, a woman herself. The novel’s narrative is entirely from a woman’s perspective – Srinithya’s alter-ago or maybe her pet character or her mouthpiece – Janani Iyengar. Janani is a brave, courageous, self-dependent, independent and modern Indian woman who cannot anything just because her parents ask her to do or the society thing it’s a norm. So, irony and humour are visible right at the very beginning of this novel. And believe me, the novel is going to be like this… sarcastic, humourous, serious and sometimes sensitive or sentimental as well.

“Listen, Appa, responsibility means getting your daughter married to a man whom you trust. The reason to get her married should be for her happiness, love, security and companionship, not because you want to tick some check-box in the name of responsibility…”

Aman Rajput Singh’s stubbornness and Janani’s boldness are seldom a match that can go hand in hand. The conversations between this unlikely couple as they both get going with an expectation to know each other keeps getting heated, amusing at times but always serious. Srinithya has mainly given her voice to the issues related to women and their flapped wings when it comes to making important decisions in life. Though this may sound a little too orthodox, it’s still being practised in many parts of India where women have rarely their say in important decisions to be made.

Though the novel does get its narrative, after a certain stage, romantically activated and sentimentally charged, for the larger part this one is a contemporary realistic and satirical take on the ‘usual business’ that marriage may have become, popularly. Janani and Aman keep coming close to each other, eventually, with many ups and downs in their journey. However, all this hangs on one single episode… will Janani be able to forgive Aman once more for all that he has done? Will Aman be able to win the final vote from his wife-to-be?

In the end, you will realise that Marry Me, Ms. Stranger, is a novel which might have been a little lengthier than it could be… but, it’s emotional, romantic, comic, satirical and too contemporary and it is too hard to resist the temptation… it has to be to read because you will love it… you will love those comic bites that the central characters offer you… mainly Janani. I admire the character-sketches that the author has created in her very debut novel. I also admire, somehow, the tightened plot Srinithya was able to create with a very limited set-up at her disposal. However, the conversations and the monologues and those internal interventions could have been curtailed to an extent to make this work even more polished, precise and entertaining.

To conclude this book review, I would give it a green! Srinithya Srinivasan’s debut novel should entertain the readers and also ask some very relevant questions about marriage to the readers. You can get a copy from Amazon India and enjoy the romantic, comic and satirical drama featuring Janani and Aman. Click below to buy your copy in Ebook or Paperback format:

Buy the novel – click here to buy from Amazon 

Review by Amit