Join me on this journey of pleasant reading....

Reading Shaw in Goa and catching some glitter too...

I am just back from sunny Goa where people go to enjoy the surf, the sand, the sea, and since winter is the best time of the year to visit this coastal vacation spot, the beaches are fairly crawling with people trying to catch the last of the mild sunlight before the harsh heat of an Indian summer sets in.

So, after I did all that the regulars do, like paying my tributes to the sea ( here let me pause for a quick memory: I love Herman Melville's lines in Moby Dick where he says that a sea is a place where "stand thousands of men fixed in ocean reveries'. I could see that Melville was right as there were other literally that many people out here too transfixed by the water). I also spent some time reflecting on life and some deep philosophies, watching a sunset or two and checking out the folk who were eating the most spice laden fish fry ever (delicious enough to tempt even vegetarians like me) and feeling the sand in my toes along our beachfront resort. Then I headed out to what I love doing best... hunting for old bookstores in the vicinity.

I locate this old bookstore without too many problems. Though it is tucked away in a tiny alley, my savvy cab driver takes me there easily, though it is clear that he is puzzled as to why I am not interested in the many fabulous monuments and churches that Goa is known for. Why would anyone in their right mind head to a bookstore? How was I to tell him that a bookstore like this was for me like the finest jewel to discover in a tourist paradise?

This was no glass fronted shop, but an old and sprawling bungalow with a tiny garden that had wrought iron chairs where book lovers could recline and sip on the tall glasses of cold coffee that were on offer. Or they could head via the dilapidated front porch to a living room full of books, old and new, where they could sit on the frayed chairs and sofas that had seen better days and read for hours on end without being shooed off.

So I walk into this wonderland and take in the scent of old books (ah that fragrance that no perfumery can emulate) and cannot believe that such a relatively tiny place could hold so many, many books. And then to make the picture perfect, in walks Frieda, a golden Labrador (the owner's dog) who is more interested in any biscuits that I might have than in my delighted interest in her. She soon retires after a cursory search (no biscuits, sorry Frieda) and I go back to browsing through the books. To my immense and rapturous surprise I find books that I had forgotten about, like a tattered copy of Irwin Shaw's "Bread Upon the Waters' that I had loved as a kid and could now buy at Rs. 50. There are so many more, and maybe if you call me, I’ll tell you all about them.

Long story short, I bought far more books than I needed. And then I headed back to my hotel with my still intrigued cab driver who had to struggle to find place in his tiny car for all my purchases. And yes, finally I went back to all that regular people should  be doing while on a holiday...

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Which brings me to the new book that I read on the sea breeze kissed balconies of Goa ..

All that glitters

by Ilana Fox

All That Glitters by Ilana Fox is a novel that women's fiction writers would perhaps call pure escapism. Well, who wouldn't like a life like that of the heroine, Ella Aldridge? When she marries Danny Riding, one of the country's ace footballers, Ella's life changes and how! Her home is now a Georgian inspired beauty, with a swimming pool that turns into a dance floor, a dazzling driveway complete with an Italian style fountain in the middle, unending beds of roses and azaleas bordering the sweeping lawns and then the real oh-my-God moment --- a bevy of beautiful peacocks in the garden.

A valet takes her Louis Vuitton cases to her room and from then on, it is a life of a celebrity footballer's wife for Ella, where designer clothes, swanky cars and cool parties take centre stage. Ella, however, is no airhead. She soon gets a TV show of her own, a fashion column and everything else that is the stuff of girlhood dreams. She can hardly believe her luck nor can she get enough of her dazzling new world.

But can life really be all that perfect?

Is Ella and Danny's marriage all that it seems to be or do they have a little secret? If everything is so amazing, why is this newlywed gal falling for Johnny Cooper, the bad boy of British television?

You will have to read the book to find out, but it will be quite a roller coaster of a story. Fast paced and well written, the book does keep you engrossed. However, somewhere midway, you find yourself totally unimpressed with Ella. From being the smart and savvy go getter that she started off as, she becomes a lovesick woman who is hard to relate to. It is this transition that is tiresome and though the book is awfully steamy in parts, the narrative loses steam somewhere along the way. Read it for some moments of vicarious escapism and then wait for the twists in the plot to keep you going.

Thoughts to leave with you:

Nothing is quite as perfect as it seems to be and no-one really has it all. This really seems to be the premise of the book and the author goes on to show that all that glitters is never really gold. A truly comforting thought on all those days, when the skies are grey and gloom has settled like a cold blanket around your soul and everyone else’s life seems to sparkle but your own!