Love Trumps All!
by Sudarshan Mahabal
Published: 2017
- Amazon: Love Trumps All!
- Goodreads: Love Trumps All!
- BOOK BLURB
- A story of the making of an India-born American high-tech executive, gingerly intertwined with, a story of the making of an America-born global philanthropist with a twist of cross-cultural romance!
- MY REVIEW
- I loved the bookcover, it fits the story to a T. And so far as the writing style, story flow and plot are concerned, I‘m very much impressed with those as well. The plot is well put together. It has the right flow and ebb to hold the reader’s attention. The adept writing lets the story advance smoothly. It really made me take delight in reading the stories and experiences of the characters.
The characters are distinct and well fleshed out, with different quirks and opinions yet sharing some basic similarities that lead them to form a strong bond. Unfortunately, I did not find myself rooting that strongly for most of them, especially not Anant who is the main protagonist. And I felt this emotional distance throughout the book.
Anant is a young, ambitious man from a small village in India. He aspires and later achieves his American dream – a successful job, car, bungalow and the perfect little family. But after a decade or so, this NRI longs for his roots, for the familiarity of his motherland. And so he and his wife Samaira decide to return to India to be close to their families. This is mostly Anant and Samaira’s story and the other three characters are, in large capacity, portrayed in terms of their relevance in the main couple’s lives.
The story is divided into three parts. Part one is mostly about Anant achieving and living his American dream. It stresses on the various experiences of living in a foreign country. It showcases cultural diversities and similarities in the aims and lives of people. I loved the fact that the author doesn’t stint on any details. One can ascertain all the effort that has gone into writing this book which is pretty remarkable.
Part two is about their move back to India and about new and old relationships. I feel this part is the most satisfying in terms of character portrayals. I really ended up liking Samaira here; in fact, her character was the closest I came to feeling any emotional connection with. The author deftly adds layers to his characters through their various experiences in this part. There’s the trekking trip which I really enjoyed; my father has also trekked around EBC (without any major disaster thankfully) so I loved reading about the cross-country and trekking trip. I think the after math of the trekking trip could have been written in a more moving way. I felt the anger in Madhura over the treatment and prejudice they evidenced there. But I also felt the episode lacking in sentimentality for the massive destruction of lives. The emotional aspect felt a bit superficial to me. Also, about Anant(view spoiler) – I could not feel much sympathy for him and the way it is finally handled felt slightly exaggerated and dramatic.
Part three of the book was something of an anticlimax for me. It felt dragging and preachy. As for the political debate near the end, I felt that the author somewhat imposes his opinions using his characters as mouthpieces. So I could have done without part three.
In conclusion, I felt this book is more about new adventures, new dreams, new goals, new experiences and new outlook on life rather than just love. The writing is perfectly suited to the plot, it is interesting and it is real. For a debut work, it shows a lot of promise.
My sincere thanks to the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 
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