The Lights of Shantinagar by Nidhi Arora - Review and Blog Tour

Hello and welcome to my stop on the blog tour for The Lights of Shantinagar by Nidhi Arora! It is a pleasure to welcome you here. Please do have a click around to see other reviews of mine. And don't forget to look at some other people's posts too! 

I was provided with an electronic copy of this book for review purposes but was not otherwise compensated for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

I loved the premise of this book, set as it is in modern India, so I eagerly signed up for the tour. I loved the family dynamics, although it is quite complex for such a short book. First of all there are the Kapoors. Mr and Mrs Kapoor have three sons - Om, who is married to Mahima, and has twin sons, Luv and Kush; Dev, who is married to Sumi, and Vivek, who is studying at a university miles and miles away. Sumi has only just moved into the house. She and Dev have not yet consumated their marriage - it's implied it was an arranged marriage so they are getting to know each other. Still, Dev is very supportive of his wife. She wants to apply for a PhD in quantum physics. Her father is also a physicist and it had always been her dream. She wants to impress him. She has less time for her mother and brother, Gyan. 

The house is cleaned by a woman called Pushpa. Her husband does ironing for a living in the local area. The Kapoors' house backs on to two others - one lived in by Mrs Banshal (I think) and her son, Dhruv. The other one is lived in by Maya and her three daughters.

Maya is a single mother after her husband left six years ago. Her daughters are teenagers/young women. The eldest, Neeti, is getting married. The middle one, Nalini, is very beautiful but really obsessed with studying and working. The youngest, Naina, has a lot put upon her, I think. All the girls have a bit of a time with their mother. She cooks and sells food in the local area. 

In the Kapoors' house things keep going missing and Mahima is going crazy over finding out what happened to them. She is trying to pin it on Pushpa but Sumi isn't sure that's right - but also she doesn't want suspicion to fall on her. She keeps meaning to do her application but isn't exactly sure of herself. There's a lot going on and the wedding is drawing closer. 

I really liked the book and all the characters and the way their lives intertwined in the way that lives of neighbours do. I'd really recommend the book. I'm giving it four out of five. I would definitely read something by the same author!