He’s 33. She’s 21.
He’s a struggling stand-up comic. She’s a rising star in private equity.
He’s divorced. She’s never had a boyfriend.
He’s Punjabi. She’s from a conservative Jain family.
They shouldn’t be together. But they can’t stay apart.
Welcome to 12 Years: My Messed-Up Love Story.
Saket and Payal couldn’t be more different—age, background, beliefs. Yet, they’re drawn to each other in ways they can’t explain. Is it just chemistry, or something deeper? Is it madness and lust, or is it love?
Chetan Bhagat’s latest, 12 Years: My Messed-up Love Story has created quite a buzz even before it’s release. More than the age gap of the couple in love, I believe that the girl’s age was a cause of concern for many readers, including me. I remember at 21 all I cared about was finding good pizza, which movies were coming and crushing on film stars.
Coming to the book, story starts with the lead, Saket going through a divorce. And the author for sure jumps on the alimony bandwagon because that seems to be the buzzword these days. So, in the midst of his divorce Saket leaves his job and moves from the US to India. He rents a flat in Mumbai and restarts his life as a stand-up comic at his friend’s club.
He meets Payal at his first show and from there mutual attraction leads to a relationship despite their twelve-year age gap. Soon, time comes for Payal to come clean to her parents and in true Bollywood style they disagree, object and forcibly keep them away.
When I read the blurb, I expected the story to be more focused on their age gap and challenges that might bring up in a relationship but this turned out to be more of parental objection to love marriage than anything else. Definitely reminded me of Two States here.
Of course, they break up and she marries the appropriate match selected by her parents. Payal, although working at a high profile job and headstrong gets easily manipulated by her parents into marrying someone else, all before she is even 23. And Saket finds it impossible to cope.
All through the story, the age gap though mentioned again and again has no bearing except when it is used as a tool by Payal’s parents to keep them apart. They could be of the same age and it would have had no effect on the story.
What I liked about the book is that it’s fast, easy to read and the story, although predictable, will entertain you on a slow weekend or a train or plane journey you are taking alone.
What I didn’t like about the book is the writing style. A lot of dialogues seem to have been translated from Hindi. It appears as if they were written in Hindi and then Google translator was used to translate them in English. Otherwise, why would you write “played house-house” when using the word “house” once would suffice? And the writer really seems to have a grudge against Rakhi brothers.
My rating: 3/5
This review is powered by Blogchatter Book Review Program.
Leave a Reply