I very much enjoyed this author’s previous novel Saraswati Park but admit to being a little disappointed in this one. As Leela fails to engage in her own personal life, I too, failed to feel engaged in hers. Although appreciating that it maybe a fair rendering , I struggled to empathise with her and found the ending unsatisfactory. ( )

I really didn't connect with this book in any way. We first meet Leela in Paris, where she is working as a teacher (subject unclear) and having various unsatisfactory relationships with men. Then we find her in London, working in publishing and in an unsatisfactory relationship with another man. I don't understand why this book needed writing, no woman should be defining herself in relation to men in the way Leela. She felt very immature, even though by the time of the end of the book she must have been late 20s. Possibly there's a cultural influence here, in that Leela is Indian and it's possible that imparts a certain cultural sense in this definition of sense. Felt to me that she needed to work out what she wanted, rather than trying to fit in everywhere. Not convincing, not terribly enjoyable and i fail to see why a book like this needs to be written in the 21st century. ( )