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A review by nirmalya
The Weight Loss Club by Devapriya Roy
4.0
This was a really enjoyable read. A mostly well paced light read with relatable characters and situations, the book is often funny, occasionally touching and ultimately large hearted. Of all the popular fiction by the current generation of Indian writers that I've read, this is surely one of the best and certainly the gentlest. The first part was nothing short of brilliant.
The story brings together a number of quirky but believable characters who share an apartment. All of them have problems of their own, ranging from love troubles of a young teenager to the mother obsessed with her son's performance at school to one woman who is gradually losing all interest in life. Their problems escalate and appear to overwhelm the characters. But then a mysterious guest arrives at the apartment and helps everyone shed some spiritual weight. There are a several romantic sub plots, one of which I thought was really sweet.
Most of the characters come across like people you would know in real life, particularly if you've lived in Kolkata. In portraying such diverse characters with verisimilitude Roy shows herself to be a writer of some range. She also has a talent for poking fun at socially normative but hypocritical behaviour, which reminded me of the great Ashapurna Devi. Roy's portrayal of social life in a Kolkata apartment is perfectly done, and happily unlike most Bengali writers she doesn't confine herself to writing only about Bengali characters.
If the book has a fault, it is perhaps Roy trying to get inside the skin of too many different characters and situations. She undoubtedly has range, but I think the book could have shed some unessential weight - particularly the Sadhvi's backstory doesn't quite gel into the rest of the novel.
I also thought that it would have been a better novel if the residents of the apartment could have gotten together and helped solve each other's problems without help from the mysterious guest. There is also quite a bit about Reiki in the second half of the book - which I found interesting because I knew nothing of it - but again I think it would have been a better book if those bits weren't there.
But these minor quibbles apart, a very entertaining and broad hearted book, which will almost certainly make your day.
The story brings together a number of quirky but believable characters who share an apartment. All of them have problems of their own, ranging from love troubles of a young teenager to the mother obsessed with her son's performance at school to one woman who is gradually losing all interest in life. Their problems escalate and appear to overwhelm the characters. But then a mysterious guest arrives at the apartment and helps everyone shed some spiritual weight. There are a several romantic sub plots, one of which I thought was really sweet.
Most of the characters come across like people you would know in real life, particularly if you've lived in Kolkata. In portraying such diverse characters with verisimilitude Roy shows herself to be a writer of some range. She also has a talent for poking fun at socially normative but hypocritical behaviour, which reminded me of the great Ashapurna Devi. Roy's portrayal of social life in a Kolkata apartment is perfectly done, and happily unlike most Bengali writers she doesn't confine herself to writing only about Bengali characters.
If the book has a fault, it is perhaps Roy trying to get inside the skin of too many different characters and situations. She undoubtedly has range, but I think the book could have shed some unessential weight - particularly the Sadhvi's backstory doesn't quite gel into the rest of the novel.
I also thought that it would have been a better novel if the residents of the apartment could have gotten together and helped solve each other's problems without help from the mysterious guest. There is also quite a bit about Reiki in the second half of the book - which I found interesting because I knew nothing of it - but again I think it would have been a better book if those bits weren't there.
But these minor quibbles apart, a very entertaining and broad hearted book, which will almost certainly make your day.