Review of My Last Love Story by Falguni Kothari

Star Ratings: 5

Arresting ‘Triangle’

This was not a Sprint, where I just wanted to reach the end; rather a Marathon where I wanted to explore the depths of each of the characters before reaching the finishing line. And exactly like a marathon, reading this book was indeed a dramatic roller coaster. The opening scene of a doting wife, accompanied by her cancer stricken husband visiting a fertility clinic makes the story start with a plunge directly into the core, without any beating around the bush. Gradually while reading through the lines, understanding the characters and the beautiful setting of the Carmel-by-the-Sea, one will easily miss when the smooth line of a husband and wife relationship gradually transitioned into an inexplicable triangle bonded by love.

Riveting Read

Not a single word, leave alone sentence or paragraph, is out of context in this story. The author has so interestingly built the plot that every word is relevant to the narration making it a riveting read that will constantly keep you at tenterhooks. The first chapter starts with the line.​ “Love is a dish best served naked.” ​Clearly a powerful line egging on the readers to understand the female protagonist sitting in a fertility clinic, reminiscing this line, as stated by her father. Just as you get to settle down to the fact that it’s a story of an otherwise happily married couple trying to have a baby, it’s a bolt from the blue when the wife says "I opened my eyes and focused on his beaming upside-down ones. His eyelids barely grew lashes anymore- I’d counted twenty-seven in total just last week- the effect of years of chemotherapy. For a second, my gaze blurred, my heart wavered and I almost cried."

As the tragic turn of fate affecting this young couple hits you and your heart literally bleeds for them, especially the wife, in comes the third angle exposing another shade, a shade that you had least expected to see in a wife of a cancer- stricken man. "My throat went dry. I was a sucker for broad shoulders and washboard abs, and Zayaan’s were quite deliciously on display now. Cursing the paradox of emotions he always spawned inside me, I pulled the red hood of my raincoat over my head, as much to serve as blinkers for my wayward vision as to protect my hair from the rain." That’s when you know there’s an onion waiting to be peeled, each interesting layer giving way to the core!
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The Story

Simeen, Nirvaan and Zayaan are the three points that form a triangle whose every angle is intriguing. While Simeen and Nirvaan are married for seven years the trio, who had nomenclature themselves as ‘Awesome Threesome’, have been buddies since they were teenagers. The unique friendship between a Parsi girl, a Hindu Gujrati boy and Aga Khani Muslim boy who had shifted base from Pakistan, was born in the port city of Surat in Gujarat when they were all of 15-years-old. From there the relationship grows, acquires layers and finally tangles and detangles itself against the beautiful backdrop of the beach city known as Carmel-by-the-Sea, in California’s Monterey Peninsula.

When Nirvaan is diagnosed with a malignant form of cancer, with not many treatment options for cure, his wife Simeen and best buddy Zayaan take it upon themselves to fulfill his ‘Titanic Wishlist’- the things he wants to do before he dies. With his days numbered he really intended to live life, before life gets on to him. In the process, the author subtly touches upon the finer nuances of life that we all forget to relish while we have it in abundance like simply watching a sunrise by the beach or silently sipping coffee with your beloved by your side.While the story definitely touches upon some raw human emotions, the love angle in this trio bonded by love is also very delicately presented by the author. "I’d steeled my nerves before looking at him, but even then a gasping ache speared my heart. Zayaan was the living reminder of all that was wrong in my life, all Khodai had taken from me as part of His grand plan to keep me in line." Lines like these keep the momentum going as curiosity gets the better of you and the book becomes unputdownable, while you explore the complicated triangle of Simeen, Nirvaan and Zayaan.

Laudable feats

1.      In depth research has gone into the making of each of the characters so much so that I can visualize all of them, not just the primary but even the secondary characters.
2.      The realistic style of story-telling is so appealing that next time when I visit Carmel-by-the-Sea I will surely look out for Simeen, Nirvaan and Zayaan.
3.      Sensitive handling of the Big C. Though we know that Nirvaan has Cancer and his days are numbered, the author has been successful in not letting the tone of melancholy mess with the story line.
4.      Holding the readers’ interest throughout the story, be it by probing into the inner depths of the characters, touching upon the farce societal façade that we all live in or building up to revelations that one would have least expected in the story.

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Only hitch

1.      Everything in the story was perfect, but just one aspect which I wasn’t convinced about was a girl being truly in love with two boys at the same time. While this is just my personal opinion; as they say everything is fair in love and war, maybe this too is happens.

Reason of rating:

1.      For not just writing, but storyboarding each scene so well that reading ‘My Last Love Story’ will leave an impression of watching a movie. A very well detailed and descriptive language actually draws out each of the images, scenes and backdrops very clearly.

2.      For painstakingly unfolding each of the layers of the characters so much so that the readers are totally in sync with them.
3.      For choosing a very sensitive topic and handling it so perfectly.

WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK?
An absolute yes! To understand complexities of human relationships and to understand the essence of life, more than the living.

THE LINE THAT STAYED WITH ME
"Life was just such a farce. It came in a warm, fuzzy package, but once you opened it, it smacked you hard like Pandora’s Box. "