Secrets and Sins (2010)

For Aman and Riva, the 10 days at the Cannes film festival is like escape therapy. Both are going through rocky patches in their marriages. Fifteen years ago their paths first crossed in Leeds University where they had a brief but passionate affair. They couldn't have come from more diametrically opposite worlds. Indian born but raised in London, Riva was confident, witty, intelligent, a passionate feminist who would never think twice before protesting against anything unfair. Aman was a handsome freshman from India, a teetotaller who wasn't so streetwise and had shyness bordering on aloofness. However, despite their passion, Riva chose reliability and security with the familiar Ben. Riva marries while Aman returns to Mumbai nursing a broken heart ... Fast forward to a time when Riva is a bestselling novelist and Aman is a Bollywood star and they follow each other's careers from a distance. When fate conspires and their worlds collide again at Cannes, they create a world of illusion for themselves, with renewed passion for each other. But when the colourful and romantic journey comes to an end, Riva finds herself standing at the same crossroads as she stood 15 years earlier - struggling to make a difficult choice between her husband and her old flame. Jaishree Misra has captured a heart-rending account of how infidelity can be both brutal and beautiful. I especially loved the crisp writing and the vivid yet simple description of how there are secrets in every marriage - even the seemingly happy ones. (PD)

Secrets & Lies (2009)

Anita, Zeba, Bubbles and Sam have been best friends since they met in the early 90s at a Delhi private girls school called St Judes. They were the Queen Bees, the popular chicks. Everything was going great, until the headmistress' niece Lily started at the school and threatened their superiority. On the night of their prom, Lily is found dead. Now 15 years later the headmistress is retiring and decides to hold a reunion of the four girls and find out what really happened that night. Anita is now a BBC correspondent, Zeba a Bollywood actress, Bubbles is married to a billionaire and Sam is a trophy wife. Can any of them afford their secrets and lies to be revealed? An enthralling read which seems like a mix between Tilly Bagshawe and Tasmina Perry. (PP)

Back to Authors M