Secrets and Second chances by Anita Shirodkar: a review

The magnificent photograph along with the effects and design teamed up with the title, makes debutante authoress Anita Shirodkar’s book Secrets and Second Chances is an instant hit. To those, who have been tired of reading male character centered books this book seems like a breath of fresh air. The blurb of the book, just acts as the cherry on the cake.

On the back cover- Suddenly, the world was upside down, and there was only one person who could set it straight. But Nandita was not sure if he wanted to… Nandita Dharkar, a strikingly beautiful and talented architect, relocates to Mumbai from Delhi, seeking new horizons and compelling explanations about ghosts from her mother’s past. As she revels in her newfound independence and forges new friendships, her job at a prestigious architect firm brings suave hotelier Aryan Rai into her life- and she falls hopelessly in love with him. But when her best friends, the carelessly handsome Aditya Arora, suddenly lands on her doorstep, Nandita realized how fickle the heart can be. In the midst of it all, she is unable to forget the mysterious letter she had discovered in her mother’s jewellery box. When she embarks on a quest to find out the identity of the letter writer shocking secrets about her mother’s past come to the forefront. Will this shatter Nandita or will she heal through forgiveness? Tender, bittersweet and moving, Secrets and Second chances examines the fragile threads that bind a mother and a daughter, and the brave choices a woman makes to follow her heart.

To just go about it, it would be best if I say that this book to me to an emotional rollercoaster ride through the help of the characters that the book holds for the readers. Reading the blurb, for many (At least it did for me) it might feel that it is a normal Mills and Boons story but coming to read it, it is much more than that.

The characters, whether centralized ones like Nandita-Aditya-Amrita-Aryan-Abhimanyu or side ones that keep coming and going like the too familiar aunty next door, or maybe the too frustrated colleague at work everything has maintained its balance between low to high making them entering and exiting at just the perfect places.

The best part of it is that the after effect of all the characters stays with the readers for a long time. While the blurb also makes the readers think (at first glance) as the book to be only Nandita’s story or her tryst but upon going about it, it has everything in it and it has much more than Nandita to do in the story.

For the beginning, I felt was a bit slow but as the other characters start showing up, I found myself particularly being fond of the book and the story; its progress. There have been parts in the story where the readers might think that they have cracked the mystery but the mystery remains so till the end of the book.

Again, the readers might just think why a character isn’t doing something which is most obvious at that moment but then again the character does that in the most unexpected place. The story also leads on to revelations that bring both smiles in the lips and tears in the eyes. The end though seems to be one very ‘looking forward to’ situation and probably the best part of the book.

For me, if only the beginning would’ve been a bit speedier (if that’s the word) and if the story had a bit more romance; then it would’ve been a wonderful book. As of yet, to this one hell of a journey I would like to give it 4.5 out of 5.