For the past thirty years, Mr. and Mrs. Jha’s lives have been defined by cramped spaces, cut corners, gossipy neighbors, and the small dramas of stolen yoga pants and stale marriages. They thought they’d settled comfortably into their golden years, pleased with their son’s acceptance into an American business school. But then Mr. Jha comes into an enormous and unexpected sum of money, and moves his wife from their housing complex in East Delhi to the super-rich side of town, where he becomes eager to fit in as a man of status: skinny ties, hired guards, shoe-polishing machines, and all.
The move sets off a chain of events that rock their neighbors, their marriage, and their son, who is struggling to keep a lid on his romantic dilemmas and slipping grades, and brings unintended consequences, ultimately forcing the Jha family to reckon with what really matters..
Claire's Review ⭐⭐⭐
The Windfall is a story about Mr Jha and his family who move to the wealthy side of Dehli in India after he made a large amount of money by selling his website. The Jha's, however, find it a struggle to fit in an upper-class area, with their middle-class background. Their son also goes to America to study and is trying not to fail, as well as falling in love with an American woman. All the family are stressed with trying to keep up appearances, with some humorous consequences.
This book was a good read which looks into the effects that having such a huge financial lifestyle change can have on all members of the family, and affect how they see themselves and the people around them. It wasn't as funny as I was expecting, but that may be just my sense of humour. I also found it rather sad in places. I was however very disappointed with the ending as I felt as it had been rushed, and that the characters seemed to do a 180 degree turn around in such a small amount of time, which I felt didn't fit with how the rest of the story had gone.
Overall I did enjoy this book, and it made a nice change from reading the typical England or America situated books and to travel further afield. Although I did feel the author was being a little bit stereotypical at times. Definitely a book I may pick up again in the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment