Digital Reads Reviews

Many thanks to publisher Bookouture for my spot on this Blog Tour.

A sedate read, with quieter overtones, author Drew Davies’ new book cast a glance on the lives of Mr. And Mrs. Dixit, their past and present, when Mr. Dixit was in a coma after a road accident.

The couple led a quiet life where they hardly soke with their own private interests. The words in the prose lent an atmosphere of silence where almost a vacuum existed. Post the tragedy, it was fun to see Mrs. Dixit to emerge out of cocoon and interact with the world, especially with the upstairs neighbor.

I could understand Mrs. Dixit need for noisy places to drown out her own emotions. Secrets too wormed its way out. Loneliness was felt but more from a retrospective way. She was never lonely when he was there, but when he just lay there, all that remained was nothing. Stark silence.

Relationships improved, new ones got forged as Mrs. Dixit found her way. The writing was dry and slow. At times, there were two Mrs. Dixits, the mother-in-law. It led me to wonder if an Indian mother-in-law would ever be so quiet.

The was poignant in its own way as it dealt with loneliness, a need for change, and finding their own path in life. A new way of living sometimes meant a fun way. Maybe I should practice quiet sometimes, what do ya say?

P. S. The devil sitting on my shoulder said – if Mr. Dixit had seen another Ms. Dixit, a sizzling actress of yesteryear, he wouldn’t have been so quiet and calm. Ah well…

I received a ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, and this is my journey into its pages, straight from the heart!! STRICTLY HONEST AND UNBIASED.

All my reviews can be read here

How long does a coma last?’ I ask.
‘Days, weeks, months?’ the nurse replies with a shrug, although her eyes are very kind.
‘But on average?’
She just smiles, unable to give me an answer.

Wendy’s life can be neatly divided into two: before and after.

Before her husband’s car accident, it was just the two of them. They never took the train at rush hour, and they avoided their noisy neighbour upstairs. Naveem devoted his spare time to vintage train models, and Wendy to re-reading the well-thumbed pages of her favourite books. It didn’t matter what others thought about their small, quiet life together – they were happy.

After the coma, Wendy barely recognises herself. When she’s not holding the love of her life’s hand, accompanied by the beep of the life-support machine, who is she? The nurse tells her to talk to Naveem – that he can still hear her – but she doesn’t have a single thing to say.

Suddenly Wendy can’t bear the silence. She needs something, anything, to talk to Naveem about. Suddenly she’s losing herself at fairgrounds packed with crowds and candyfloss, she’s at the airport, waiting for the whoosh of the planes as they take off, making friends with the neighbour she has spent over a decade avoiding.

Knowing that every breath her husband takes might be his last, Wendy has no choice but to try to carry on without him. Should she feel guilty about living while his life is on pause? And when – if – he wakes up, will he still love the woman she has become?

Publication Date: July 2020