| Book Title: The Indian Café in London Author: Veena Nagpal Format: Paperback Published By: EEP (Environment Education Promoters) No. of pages: 318 Genre: Fiction Category: Drama |
Review Headline
It’s a fiction narrative, not a memoir, that brings back long-forgotten memories!
Book Title:
The book’s title – The Indian Café in London, immediately reminded me of the 80’sTv show titled – Tandoori Nights by Saeed Jaffrey. That typical British lifestyle and set-up flashed in front and gave the book a petrichor and environment. This is where author Veena Nagpal conquered my mind.
Book Cover:
The book’s cover is an orange-yellow combination-coloured solid background with a sketch of a car and a traffic symbol. The title font is attractive for its simplicity and with few letters in cursive writing, again depicting typical British handwriting. Also, those raindrops added beauty. On a personal level, the drops represent evaporating dreams and desires.
Plot:
The Indian Cafe in London,” by Veena Nagpal, is a brilliant weaving of relationships, love, and sadness through multiple generations. The book is filled with heart, great food, travel, feelings, dreams, obstacles, and achievements. This is a story of misplaced recipes, lost lovers, misplaced selves and smelled-like curries with culinary secrets from both ancient and current times.
What did I like?
1. The importance of relationships and emotions
2. How food creates memories, and people relate it to their life
3.Jamila’s character is relatable
4. The fight against one’s strengths and weaknesses
What did I not like?
1. The paragraphing & page indentation in the book could have been better for a reading
2. The font colour was a little dull
Who can read?
The book is for those fiction readers who like experimental stories. This is not a regular fiction story with a love story added and human emotions included. Even though this is a novel about food, the book is filled with various emotions that will keep you reading until the very end and leave you wanting more.
Characters:
Each character plays a crucial role in the story. The chapters are titled Akhil, Jamila, Khanu, Puru, and so on, and they are allowed to describe their point of view in their language. Each one captures the reader’s attention and piques their curiosity.
Narration?
In the story, the readers alternate between tasty food and yearning for new recipes due to the fantastic storyline and precise narration. This book gives the impression of being a memoir, but it is not. You may think so, considering that one of her characters is a war hero and the book details traditional recipes and culinary skills to illustrate the Author’s enthusiasm for cooking, but the story gives a new perspective . Even if the places and regions described in the novel are factual, the book is Author Veena’s unique blend of love and imagination. It effectively exhibits her eloquence.
Language and grammar:
The book has simple language with sufficient grammatical constructs. The recipes in Akhil’s book are easily comprehended, and interested readers can use them!
Author’s writing style:
This is my first book from author Veena Nagpal, but this is her fifth novel. She has a knack for expounding on the details of her characters, each of whom seems very real. The bold and strong-minded but fears commitment – Jamila, the wannabe chef Akhil trying hard to make his career in the culinary world, or his war hero father, Maj Gen Robert Khanna remind you real people. Author Veena Nagpal’s writing skills are showcased when her characters gradually sink into the reader’s mind, reflecting personal feelings and recollections of recipes along with their hopes and aspirations, achievements and disappointments. These points keep the reader’s interest intact. As the reader keeps turning the pages, wanting to know more about each character is definite.
I wish to read her other books for her fabulous writing.
How entertaining is the book?
The book is highly entertaining, with ingredients like love, relationships, emotions and feelings in the life recipe!
Pick it up if:
– you are looking for books set up in different places and profession
– you like books on relationships and emotions
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