by 
Love’s Labor by Andy Paula
The Blurb
Piali Roy has run away from home and the two stubborn men who love her. One is her beloved Baba; a rigid traditionalist, he refuses to accept anyone from outside her caste and community. And then there is Sathya, the unsuitable outsider. He loves her truly, madly, deeply and has even called off his marriage for her sake. Neither man will budge, and the small town of Jampot, where everyone knows everything, is not big enough for the two of them.
Away from their unreasonable demands, Piali strives to find peace in the mountains. But within six months, her lover tracks her down. Once again, she betrays the one by trusting the other.
Will her labor in the name of love be in vain, or will love transcend all differences?
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The Book Club Presents Andy Paula’s Love’s Labor
My Review
This is my first Indireads published book and I am happy to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the book. A great way to support new authors, I had been hearing about Indireads from sometime but still hadn’t read any of their books yet.
“Love’s Labor” is Andy Paula’s first book and features Piali, a vivacious and ambitious Bengali teacher and Sathya, a dynamic and the most eligible bachelor who also happens to be the only son of the school’s director where Piali is a teacher. What starts as a school trip based association soon transcends into a love of the forever kind. But the main hurdle in their path is their religious difference and Piali’s father who is strictly against inter-caste marriages.
What will Sathya and Piali do now?
Will they fight for their love or succumb to the family pressure of marrying in their own strata and culture?
Andy Paula has raised some very relevant and often unheeded to issues in her book. The first one being the pressure on marrying in our own society or religion. The second is the show of being modern and progressive while inside we all are still caught in the chains of age-old redundant traditions. Piali and Sathya are facing all these hurdles and it is upto them to make way for their happily-ever-after.
The plot is simple and we might have heard or seen first hand such love stories but still the skill of narration and the technique of Andy make this book a must read. Set against vivid, exotic and peaceful surroundings the story sucks the reader in and even though the pace of the story is slow, it still keeps him hooked till the very end.
The characterization is specially noteworthy and Andy is able to picture perfectly a staunch and set in his ways Bengali in Mr. Roy; a self made, Malayali business man in Mr. Nair; a perfect wife who always obeys her husband in Mrs. Roy; a dynamic, handsome and confident man who knows what he wants in life and who will go to any lengths to follow his heart in Sathya and finally the sweet natured, ambitious and very beautiful Piali Roy who is conflicted between her love and her sense of responsibility towards her parents.
Although the story is very beautifully narrated but still at the end I did feel as if it was very hurriedly wrapped up. No explanation is given how Sathya came to know about Piali’s whereabouts. I would have loved it more if a bit more clarity was given as to the end. Also the author makes a generalization about teachers which did feel odd because I, for one, know many people who have specifically trained to be teachers and had always had the dream of becoming a teacher in their life.
“She’d seen enough of life to know that most who came for interviews were teachers by chance. They opted to teach when they could not find their dream jobs or if they had time to kill. But this girl was a teacher by choice.”
All in all, a sweet and very well narrated love story of two people who had all the odds against them but still they decided to follow their hearts even if it led them to a hard journey of sadness, longing and a constant battle of wits to finally get their happily-ever-after. Had the end been more clearly charted I would definitely have gone for a 5 star rating for this story of love that many of us have either experienced or seen in our lives. A 4 out of 5 to “Love’s Labor” and a strong recommendation that you go buy and read it. 🙂
I received the book to read and review from the author and the tour organizers and I am very thankful to them. The above review is my honest and unbiased opinion and in no way influenced.
Meet the Author
Andy Paula is a corporate trainer by profession and a writer by vocation. After the innumerable essays, poems, articles, editorials, congratulations & condolence letters she wrote for herself and others refused to satiate her writer’s Self, she finally put herself seriously to the task and wrote Love’s Labor,a romance novella that is now on Goodreads.
Wonderful Review Nikita. Loved this book too. Specially since it raised one question which I feel personally that Indians are slowly letting go is the objection towards intercaste marriage. At least in the urban zone. Loved your review.
Thanks Rubina.. 🙂
Lovely and detailed review Nikita. You have perfectly brought out the nuances of the story. I think its a wonderful book by Andy Paula with a hurried ending too.