The Best Seller She Wrote By Ravi Subramaniam - A Different Yet Cliche Trope

 When I got the book The Bestseller She Wrote fore review,the subtitle ‘adapted into an Amazon Prime Web Series named Bestseller is whatcaught my attention. I had watched the series and had shared a review that thestory was good but the execution especially the acting of Shruti Hassan didn’tfit the bill for me. Keeping this prejudice in mind I grabbed the copy just tosee if the ‘book is always better than the visual media adaption’, the beliefthat I have always kept is proven again.

The plot takes off in a slow pace when the protagonistAditya, a celebrity author, was attending a fan meet wherein he meets a randomgirl, whom questions his ideology that a book is a product. Further we see howtheir equation changes the shades and how Aditya’s life changes irreversibly –both professionally personally.

The different attempt

I have read Ravi Subramaniam’s previous books and have feltthat there is an Indian version of John Grisham in his books. But on thecontrary, the Bestseller She Wrote is crafted more like a romantic stint withsome thrilling element. I liked how the author has deftly added layers to thecharacters and established a preset notion about everyone which connected withthe audience instantly. The effortless narration hooks the readers both out ofcuriosity and interest.

However, the antagonist has been in a template that we haveread before. Hence the pattern was predictable, unlike the author’s previousbooks. The climax which lacked substance dampened the plot significantly buthow the author finally brought the shades of all characters on one layer is aninteresting observation for someone who wants to analyse how human mind works.

Infidelity, ethics and logic in relationships

The author has shared several observations about how arelationship works and also how infidelity slowly creeps into a relationship. Ihave highlighted several lines as they resonate with many real stories that Ihave come across. The book left me wondering how the author has a deepunderstanding about the human minds. The parts where he is narrating the layersof an extramarital relation as well as how if affects the both parties arerelatable at several levels.

The web series and the book

Though the book is adapted into a web series, I could not findmuch parallels between the plots. There were several references of thediscrepancies in the stories written by the antagonist, which was probablyextrapolated in the web series. Hence comparing both was not easy as both arebeing placed at different levels. However, the character portrayal of theantagonist is much more engaging in the book than was executed by the actress. Thecharacter could have been explored more in the book because it is a layeredcharacter with lot of possibilities of having engaging subplots.

Overall the book is an engaging, quality read. You will loveit if you like Indian style contemporary fiction with a tinge of suspense