Mahesh Rao (1)

audio fiction (9.5+ hours)

this starts off like a modern Emma set in Delhi (the narrator's reading of Ania's lines bring to mind Cher in "Clueless"), but expands to include a lot of other various characters, not all of them likeable, with intersecting plotlines. Obviously if you are looking to revisit Emma, you probably just want to re-read Emma, because this will be a totally different experience.
My spotty audio attention span made it hard for me to keep track of all the characters, but I show more enjoyed the storytelling overall and the barbed jabs at the ridiculously wealthy. show less

I was ready throughout this beautiful novel to write a rave review, but then the ending let me down. However, from the cover to the captivating storytelling, this Indian adaptation of Austen's Emma is still a lovely book. Modern takes on Austen's classic novel work best when set in India or the American Deep South, perhaps because of the traditional social setting and 'old money' families, and Mahesh Rao's Delhi-based reworking is no exception.

Delhi socialite Ania Khurana, the only daughter show more of a wealthy widower (who's wife died in slightly more unconventional circumstances than Mrs Woodhouse), takes to meddling in the love lives of those around her as a distraction. She claims the midlife marriage of her aunt as a personal success, and moves onto her new country protege, Dimple. Family friend Dev looks on in despair. So far so familiar. There is a 'Jane Fairfax' and a 'Frank Churchill', both hiding scandalous secrets, but sadly they are not the hidden pairing of Austen's novel. 'Frank' or Nikhil, a nephew of Ania's new uncle, is beyond redemption, and Kamya, Ania's 'Jane', is a glacial figure who seems to exist merely to stir feelings of jealousy and then glides out of the story. A hook up between this Frank and Jane would have been a satisfying touch.

Speaking of which - the ending! Yes, Ania gets her Mr Knightley, but there are no great speeches, just a lot of teasing banter, longing looks and then a knock on a door. Where is my 'Dear Emma' scene? Ania and Dev spark so well together throughout the story that I was almost giddy for the final chapters, then all we get is a 'behind the bedroom door' kind of polite inference last found in Victorian romances.

The depiction of Indian culture and society, where people move in the right circles and know everybody else's business, makes this both a clever Austen adaptation and also a witty novel in its own right. I envied Ania's wealthy lifestyle, loved Dimple, Dev and Ranu, Ania's aunt, and enjoyed making the connections with my favourite Austen novel. I just wish the ending was all that I was expecting! show less

I'm having a very difficult time writing this review as I don't really want to offend anyone...but the fact is that I am really wondering just how this book garnered so many high rated reviews?

First of all---Jane Austen is dead people, please let her rest in peace and stop trying to imitate her by rewriting Emma in the modern world...it just doesn't work.

There is only one passage that gave me pleasure while I was reading this book and that was at location 1776 at 49% of the book---Ania says show more and I quote "It's okay to toss a boring book after fifty pages." Well, I gave this book wayyy more than 50 pages and I just couldn't do it anymore.

If "Polite Society" hadn't such a strong essence of "Emma" I would not have been so distracted comparing the two books. If the characters had been just a little more likable (I actually hated Ania) I might have plodded on. I realize that Ania would finally change, but for me, the voyage just wasn't worth it. She was just an annoying, whiny, know-it-all that couldn't handle her own life, but unlike in "Emma", she just did it in such a nasty way.

This book tried too hard to make a literary book out of what should have been no more than Chick-lit; all about the uber-rich and how they treat those around them and how they take their riches for granted.

I'm surprised at myself that I allowed myself to read this much of this book.
Rao, Mahesh

*ARC supplied by the publisher. show less

I’ve been on a roll for almost the past year, trying to read as many modern Jane Austen retellings as I can. So when I found that there was a new version of Emma set in Delhi, I just had to get my hands on it.

Emma is one of those books that’s not easy to like, especially because of our titular character. The retellings which stay close to the original tend to have similar concerns, so I really wanted to see how the author would manage to make me like the story here. I think the show more author’s decision to set it among the uber rich elite class of Delhi was perfect for this story. The pretentiousness of this group of people really comes through and one can’t help but wonder how far away they are from the country’s reality. The book really feels like a satire and I could enjoy it because of that. The first half of the book does a neat job of establishing the characters, giving us a look into their backgrounds and motivations and the general culture among this crowd. However, it’s the second half where it really faltered for me. We follow many characters and I thought it’ll be fun to see where they all end up, but it felt like the story meandered a lot and we never got any proper resolution to most of the characters’ arcs. The ending felt very abrupt and open ended and I’m not really a fan of those. Another problem I had was that some of the English vocabulary used was completely unfamiliar (with some French words also thrown in the mix) and I found it all a bit tough to follow - it’s totally a me problem and others would probably enjoy it too.

This book has a huge ensemble cast but I didn’t end up connecting to anyone. No one here is written to be likeable, so that’s not the issue - it’s just that I felt a huge divide between them and myself, so I couldn’t find myself invested in any of their issues. I’m not even a fan of Emma from the original but she manages to redeem herself a bit towards the end, however I didn’t feel the same about Ania. She is a snob and a creature of privilege, always sure that she is doing the right thing and feels herself to be superior to other mere mortals. But I did sympathize with her when some unfortunate incidents happened, but we never see her actually contemplate or learn anything from them so it didn’t make any difference. Even towards the end, I don’t think that she realized any of her faults - just that things didn’t go her way. So, I was pretty disappointed with this missing character development. And that’s the case with most of them in the book. Things just happen to the characters in their life and they move on to something else, but we never really see anyone reflect or try to change or even empathize with others.

In the end, I thought this was mostly a faithful retelling of Emma (atleast all the characters of Emma’s family and Harriet). It has a well written satirical tone which made the book interesting to read, and I also absolutely adored the narrator Deepti Gupta whose voices for each character was unique and beautiful. But the lack of character development and unresolved arcs left me feeling dissatisfied. If you like desi Jane Austen retellings or previously have enjoyed reading The Windfall by Diksha Basu, you probably will enjoy reading this one too. I also recommend the audiobook because of the wonderful narrator. show less