Title: Vigil Aunties
Author: Richa S Mukherjee
Genre: Thriller/Fiction
Publisher: Black Ink
No of Pages: 354
Link for Purchase: Vigil Aunties
Price: Rs 399
Synopsis:
Sixteen-year-old Philadelphia aka Philly Waghmare’s carefully curated life revolves around the SAT. The most exciting thing that happens in the crumbling old society she calls home is the weekly meet-up between her mother, Varsha, and her motley group of society aunties. Nothing really changes here—except one day when everything does!
A shocking incident leads Philly to trail Tarun Adhikari, the hotshot father of her best friend, Naina. During this quest, her world turns turtle as she not only discovers that her sweet, sanskari mother is the head of a secret society of women, but that this group might be responsible for the disappearance of a rogue named Ratan Tamancha, whom the police is looking for.
A game of cats, mice and wits commences as Bharatendu Bandopadhyay, a most unusual investigator, shows up asking questions.
Is this secret society of harmless aunties responsible for taking a life?
Will Philly be able to prevent her mother from going to jail?
Will this be the end of the road for the vigil-aunties?
My Take:
I enjoyed the way the narrative drips with dry and droll humour. This is one of those books in which the author has thrown reality to the winds and concentrated totally on creating an improbable but very enjoyable thriller cum drama story. And in this task, she has succeeded to a very large extent. The book holds the reader’s interest mostly, though at certain places I could not help wishing that events would move faster.
I liked the concept of middle-class women living a normal life in a residential society, helping the police to nab sexual predators by indulging in some cloak-and-dagger evidence gathering. The detective assigned to solve the crime comes across as a modern-day Byomkesh Bakshi and I liked his character quite a bit. I hope to see more of him in future books by the author.
The characters created by the author stay in mind long after we finish reading the book. At first, the story moves slowly but picks up speed later. I liked the fetish the detective assigned to solve the crime exhibits for food. All the characters remain etched in the mind. It would be remiss of me if I didn’t say a word about Jimin and Philly. Philly comes across as a very likable teenager who takes responsibility and acts when the situation demands. Jimin is a particularly chubby young boy who has a crush on Philly.
The way the women of this small group show loyalty and courage and try to protect one of their own when she finds herself in a sticky situation is commendable. They are willing to stick their necks out for her sake. I like the way the author has resorted to humour to induce a smile on the reader’s lips even in some of the serious parts of the narrative. With the result I found the book more amusing than serious. It is a humour cum thriller fiction book. And I presume this is what the author also had in mind while writing the book.
What did not work for me was the length of the book. I felt it would have been better if the narrative had been more crisp. As it is the story is very good and the author’s humourous and light hearted style of writing makes the book very enjoyable. I liked the ending a lot though I knew by the way the narrative flowed that it would be a happy ending. On the whole, the book is a light hearted breezy read. If you like the kind of book that would make you smile, but at the same time bring some of the more serious virtues of life like loyalty, goodness of heart, and responsibility to the mind do pick up this one.
Rating: I am going with a 4/5 for Richa S Mukherjee’s ‘Vigil Aunties’. Do read it.
Rating Scale:
1 Poor
2 Fair
3 Good
4 Excellent
5 Outstanding
This review has been written as a part of the Blogchatter Book Review Programme.