The Private Life of Mrs Sharma Paperback – December 13, 2016

The protagonist and narrator of Ratika Kapur’s THE PRIVATE LIFE OF MRS. SHARMA is refreshing. It feels like you are inside of her thoughts. You see what she sees, feel what she feels. She moves along gracefully, sometimes going back and forth about what she thinks, just like we do, not necessarily asking for permission or seeking advice, but telling it like it is. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t agree with everything that she does or her justifications, but I can see, in the traditional world turning into the modern world in which she lives, that she is trying to adapt. Mrs. Sharma is like a machine – constantly giving out care but never the recipient.This is a story that takes place in real time as seen by the narrator. Yes, she shares dialogue with the reader, but we are drawn in by her feelings. This wife, mother, daughter-in-law, worker, is fulfilling her obligations, and then, pow, she encounters a man, while taking the train to work one day. We watch what happens, through her eyes, as she befriends this man, as her teenage son goes through typical adolescence, how she manages to maintain a relationship with her husband who works in Dubai trying to provide a better life for their family back in Delhi.I absolutely loved this book. After just a few pages, I felt like I was having a conversation with her, or rather, she was having one with me. I knew every single thing about her. I don’t think I know anyone this well. Then, again, came another pow. She surprised me. Or was it a shock to her? Did she trust her intuition and expect this all along? Did I really know her so well?

I liked this book since it has a deep message but presented in a very simple way. We see Renu Sharma whose situation is going out of control. Instead of looking at things as it is, she sees it in a different light where she thinks she is under control. But this is not how she sees it when it comes to her son. She sees that he is out of control and reacts accordingly.Renu is in a fast lane out of control. She does not step on the brakes and change direction. What she does is she keeps stepping on the gas till it ends tragically. Till the end, she thinks she is under control. What this book taught me is that it is hard to know when someone is completely out of control till it is too late.The author style of writing makes one see how complex women are. They are juggling so many things and want to appear the way the society expects of them which is to be a lot of things, especially respectable in Renu's case.. But that makes them susceptible to a fantasy life until it becomes too real.Is this book making a statement about women's life in that they need to be taken care of emotionally, psychologically, physically and professionally for them to be really satisfied? I don't know but that is what I got out of it.

I liked this book very much. As I read the last half I kept vacillating between a 4 and 5 star rating. Then the ending. It didn't work for me at all. It felt to me that the author had painted herself into a corner and was left only two reasonable endings, neither of which would be satisfactory to her not the reader. And we are left therefore, with an end that comes out of nowhere. An end that is totally inconsistent with our narrator's thinking and actions throughout.The story is about a middle class Delhi housewife. Her husband works in Dubai, she has been raising their spoiled, demanding 15 year old son with the interference, not support, of her live-in in-laws in their one bedroom flat. She happens to meet a younger man at the neighborhood metro stop one day and they begin a friendly relationship. Extremely unusual for a married Indian woman - yes, even today, even in Delhi. Anyone the least bit familiar with modern Indian culture and mores would fear for a drippy romance or fantasy to ensue. But not so, at least not exactly. The writing is excellent. Mrs. Sharma has created an interesting, typical (an overused, Indian descriptor) all-India woman who is both likeable and frustrating throughout.I wish I could recommend this book because I feel that there is so much that is very good about it. I have traveled to India many times and as I read I felt "I have been in this conversation", or this situation, many times. But that ending, in my mind, is ridiculous. Too bad.

This book is really good. It is written completely in first person. Mrs. Sharma is an Indian wife and mother (of a teenage son) who is running her home and work while her husband is working a medical contract far away. Now you would think this might be boring, but the main characters flow is very entertaining and she has a fighter's attitude. She tries to rationalize (a lot, to herself and you) the reasons why she and her husband have chosen to set up their lives in this way. Life throws her a curve ball when she meets a younger man in the train station on the way to her work. Mrs. Sharma decides that they will be friends, but over time expectations change and conflict ensues. She also has some drama with her teen son that is very interesting. Over time, her voice starts to change under the strain of keeping up her life and appearances, and you start to understand that Mrs. Sharma's life plan probably is not going to work.I can usually guess endings but this one was a surprise (no spoiler). Very well done!

I loved this book. Completed it within a few days! Very compelling! Was shocked at the ending. Very thought provoking about the life of an ordinary woman. I realized, in the end, however, that no person is ordinary. Everyone has a story! The only reason I gave it four stars is that, the ending was so shocking, that it almost seemed contrived.

I thought the book had great character development and voice going for it. I was really enjoying it, competed to read on but then it ended so abruptly. Very disappointed in how it ended.

Interesting monologue from a woman who has no real friends, a husband in Dubai and teenage son to raise on her own. We feel her burdens and her loneliness and her denial. She is trapped in a world that feels unrelenting for a woman but her choice of becoming "friend" with a young man feel doomed to fail from the beginning.

In her second novel, Ratika Kapur has created a character - Renuka Sharma, 37, perhaps a little plump these days? - who gloriously shows up the social and economic tensions of middle-class Delhi life, and manages to skewer herself.Mrs Sharma, married with a son, living in the marital home with her in-laws and husband – though he’s away in Dubai trying to earn some real money – tells us in splendid detail about her life in the months following a chance meeting with a man on the railway platform.The key to a novel like this is tone: how to depict an ordinary wife and mother, left to cope alone, who insists on her respectability while gradually losing her emotional balance amidst clouds of self-delusion. Even as her flights of fancy amuse us, we feel sorry for her dilemmas. She dotes on her son, but half the time could cheerfully strangle the little so-and-so; she knows her husband was right to go abroad for work, but where the devil is he when she needs him?How should we assess Mrs Sharma? Is she just a bit flaky or a monster in the making? Is she becoming unhinged or just a woman with burdens to bear and time on her hands to worry about them? We can smile at her, but she may be more like us than we’d care to acknowledge.

This is a deceptively easy read - the tale of ordinary housewife Mrs Sharma trying to hold down a job, manage her aimless son and preserve the family's respectability while her husband works abroad. A chance meeting with a stranger sets her on a path where each incremental step seems harmless enough but leads, all too believably, to disaster. Skillfully crafted, the story resonates for days after you finish the final page.

This arrived within 36 hours of ordereing, very impressive and I am still reading it excellent book for anyone interested in the indian culture.

Mrs Sharma can justify everything she does. There is a plan and it will benefit her family. Until....

Arrived safely, good quality