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Ann Patchett is one of my all-time favorite authors. I have read and loved ‘Run’, ‘Commonwealth’, and ‘Bel Canto’. I have a copy of ‘The Dutch House’ on my shelf reserved for that time when I hit a reading slump. I know Patchett will get me out of it. I recently came across one of her essay collections while browsing at the bookstore. I had no intention of buying a book. I had made a pact with my husband that I wouldn’t buy any books in January. I was waiting for a friend and had stepped into the bookstore to kill some time.

But there were only two copies of ‘These Precious Days’ and I had never seen the book at any other bookstore. I just couldn’t walk away. I went back to the bookstore a few days ago to buy a copy for my friend. The blurb at the back of the book says, ‘Read it, cherish it, buy a copy for your best friend, then read it once more.’ I want to give this book to anyone who is feeling upset or unsettled in life. It’s filled with nuggets of hard-earned wisdom. Patchett’s writing takes your mind off things. And you can relate to so many things that it makes you feel a little less lonely.

The essays are personal. In one Patchett talks about her relationship with her three fathers, and how each of them taught her different things. “Without ever meaning to, my father taught me at a very early age to give up on the idea of approval,” writes Patchett while speaking about her father’s scorn for her writing. When her mother remarried for the third time, Patchett was just 27. Something about her mother’s easy approach to marriage, of not giving up on it despite hers not working out, made Patchett more accepting of life’s ups and downs.

In another essay, she talks about the hardships in a writer’s life, the uncertainty that comes with being a writer, and the many pressures and pitfalls of publishing. Another deals with the often harrowing and intrusive questions that are raised about her decision not to have children. “To have a child required the willful forgetting of what childhood was actually like; it required you to turn away from the very real chance that you do to the person you loved most in the world the exact same thing that was done to you. No. No, thank you.”

In Those Precious Days, the longest essay of the collection and the one the anthology is named after, she writes about her friend Sooki’s battle with cancer. Patchett and Sooki strike up a rare friendship after the two cross paths when Patchett is called upon to interview Tom Hanks for his book, ‘Uncommon Type’. Sooki is his assistant. There are also lighthearted essays that are filled with warmth and humor. She writes about how owning a bookstore has changed her life. She writes about her mother, her husband, and her dog. That everyone and everything is just fodder for a writer is made evident by her eagerness to write about them all.

 Some essays are short and some are long. But they all feel complete by themselves. Many of them have been previously published in various publications, though the book versions have been slightly tweaked. Patchett’s insight and compassion infuse life into the stories. Patchett is first and foremost a storyteller but she shines as an essayist too. “Essays never filled my days,” she says in the first one in the collection, “But they reminded me that I was still a writer when I wasn’t writing a novel.”

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56922687-these-precious-days  

Those Precious Days

Ann Patchett

Published: 2021

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Pages: 322, Paperback

Rebecca F. Kuang, better known as R.F. Kuang, is the author of the hugely popular ‘The Poppy War’ trilogy. The first book ‘The Poppy War’ was published in 2018. The subsequent novels in the series, ‘The Dragon Republic’ and ‘The Burning God’, were published in 2019 and 2020 respectively. Kuang released a standalone novel ‘Babel’ or the Necessity of Violence in 2022. ‘Yellowface’ came out in 2023.

The Poppy War series was a bestseller. Some of the bookstores I frequent had to restock it multiple times as there was a big demand for it. Booksellers said those who didn’t read a lot too came searching for it. Many people bought all three books in one go. The craze had caught on. Babel debuted at the first spot on The New York Times Best Seller list, and won Blackwell’s Books of the Year for Fiction in 2022 and the 2022 Nebula Award for Best Novel.

I haven’t read The Poppy War but I did read Babel. It’s a thick book but I loved it. In comparison, Yellowface is slimmer. But the writing is as gorgeous and the story is gripping, albeit slow at times. I began reading Yellowface at the end of December 2023 and finished it on the first of January 2024. I like to say I ended my reading year on a good note and had a great start to another one.

June Hayward isn’t having much luck as a writer. Her debut book received a lukewarm response. She struggles to pay rent as well as come up with an idea that will make a good story. Her college friend, Athena Liu, on the other hand, has skyrocketed her way to stardom. At just 27, she has three bestselling books, a Netflix deal, and an awards nomination list that is ‘longer than a grocery list’. June is jealous, and perhaps a bit resentful tool. Why should Athena have so much while she has so little?

Then Athena dies and June takes her recently completed first draft of her newest manuscript. It’s the story of Chinese laborers in World War I. It’s the only copy that exists. Athena writes on a manual typewriter and she doesn’t share her work with anyone. June polishes the draft and submits it to her agent as her own work. It gets published and June suddenly has everything Athena ever did. But the secret soon comes out as all secrets do, and June finds herself doing things she wouldn’t normally do to hold on to her newfound fame.

One of the most interesting aspects of the novel is the discussion on stories and who gets to tell which kind of stories. Do you have to come from a certain community to be able to write about their hardships? Does privilege mean you can’t be empathetic? June is an unreliable character and that keeps you on your toes while reading the book because you don’t know if you should trust what she’s saying. But Kuang is a convincing writer. She makes you feel for her characters even though they are in the wrong. I loved Yellowface and would highly recommend it. It’s enjoyable. The ending falls a little flat but makes up a little by leaving a lot of room for imagination.

Yellowface

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62047984-yellowface 

Rebecca F Kuang

Published: 2023

Publisher: The Borough Press

Pages: 323, Paperback

The movie ‘Annapoorani’ advocates for women empowerment but a failure to execute the plot on many levels takes away from the story and leaves you feeling baffled. 

The story is female centric. Annapoorani (played by Nayanthara) sheds light on gender issues by entering the culinary business, a business dominated by men. She wants to become an inspiration for many women. 

Annapoorani is born to an orthodox Iyenger family but she is swept away by the aroma of a fish fried on a hot pan by the roadside.

The name Annapoorani means the goddess of food and she does indeed seem to have been born to cook and taste delicious food. There is magic in this girl. She was born with enhanced taste buds that allows her to differentiate flavors really well. 

The movie starts with Annapoorani walking next to her doting father, Rangarajan, (Achyuth Kumar) who is a chef at the Srirangam Ranganatham temple. They are seen carrying freshly made offerings. 

It’s the father’s love for cooking that inspires his daughter to become the best chef in the country like the famous chef Anand Sundarajan (Sathyaraj).

As she grows up she shares her wish to join a culinary school to become a chef. But her father Rangarajan forbids her to join the course, telling that she will have to cook and eat meat. As she belongs to a Hindu vegetarian family, she will not be able to chop chicken and is forbidden to eat meat. Her childhood friend and secret lover Farhaan (Jai) manages to help her join the culinary school despite her father’s disapproval.

Torn between her passion and her father’s orthodox ideologies, she aims to achieve her dream of becoming a corporate chef. Does she succeed? What kinds of difficulties does she face in the journey? 

The pre-intermission has a number of things but all of them are predictable. It’s a typical Hindi masala movie. But it doesn’t captivate you at any point. It feels lame and slow. 

There are many issues in the movie. Her father eventually finds out about her joining the culinary school. She is caught red handed inside the classroom chopping a chicken. The scene is predictable. The scene where Annapoorani lashes out at her landlord is too filmy and mechanical. It’s difficult to enter a five star hotel’s kitchen. But Annapoorani does it in just two scenes and something about this feels off. 

Karthik Kumar, in the role of chef Ashwin, is reduced to being a caricature. He is angry for no reason and doesn’t even hesitate to hit his father with a wine bottle.

The film takes a dramatic turn when Annapoorani loses her tastes because of an accident in the kitchen. Was that really an accident or was it planned? Again, you can guess what happened.

The use of an animated sequence to show a young girl climbing up Everest moving closer to her dreams facing multiple hurdles is well anticipated.

Annapoorani leaving the house when the groom is there on her wedding day reminds of the scenes of 2017 comedy, Raj Kumar Rao starrer, ‘Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana.’

However, it’s a good inspirational drama. Though there is nothing exceptional in the movie, it’s quite palatable. The film revolves around food and cooking but it has very few mouthwatering visuals of food one expects in such a film.

The film has tried to convey a message of women empowerment. It has heartfelt ideas but the narration feels rushed. The storyline is convenient. The writing is weak and thus the screenplay feels stretched. 

Nayanthara has given her all to the role. Sathyaraj as Chef Anand, a renowned chef who is Annapoorani’s role model, plays the role of a supportive mentor. He seems to be too soft in his role. Jai as Farhaan has very little to do as a chef. Karthik Kumar is the villain in the story. He is envious of the heroine and has to constantly seek validation from his father.

There is a lot of spoon feeding in the film. There are a lot of emotions, but nothing really sticks. The ideas seem to be forced. The film would have been better if it had focused on a particular theme. 

The film speaks about how taste isn’t the only sense that cooking requires but it fails to raise questions on why there isn’t an alternative for chefs to cook non-vegetarian food without having to eat it.

All in all, the movie doesn’t satiate your craving for a good story. 

3 Stars

Drama

Annapoorani

Cast: Nayanthara, Karthik Kumar, Jai, Achyuth Kumar, Sathyaraj, Redin Kingsley

Director: Nilesh Krishnaa

Runtime: 135 minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ED-4d0S4Mj0

‘The Housemaid’s Secret’ is the sequel to ‘The Housemaid’ and this is perhaps one of those rare times when the second book is better than the first. It’s much more engaging than the first, and that’s saying a lot because The Housemaid was a tense thriller.

In Housemaid, we met Millie as she was desperately searching for a job. Then Nina Winchester hires her to help clean her beautiful home. The messes keep piling up, Nina accuses her of stealing her clothes, and Nina’s daughter hates her. The only respite comes in the form of Andrew, Nina’s husband, who seems to understand Millie and the two soon develop feelings for each other. But things aren’t as they seem and everything quickly goes downhill for Millie.

The Housemaid’s Secret doesn’t begin where the first book left off. Quite a few things have happened in Millie’s life since then. Millie is now working as a nanny and has a wonderful, caring boyfriend called Brock. Then she gets fired from the job when the baby calls her ‘mama’ instead of her real mother. Brock asks her to move in with him but, as lovely as he is, she just can’t bring herself to take that next step in their relationship.

So, she needs another job immediately. She has to pay rent for her decrepit room. But she is unable to find one. Then Douglas Garrick, CEO of Coinstock, contacts Millie. He says he and his wife require Millie to cook and clean their house twice or thrice a week. Douglas tells Millie that his wife Wendy is sick and not to disturb her. It seems like an innocent request and Millie agrees.

But soon Millie starts to hear cries from the bedroom. She finds a nightdress with blood along the neckline when doing the laundry. She sees Wendy with bruises on her face. Millie realizes Douglas is an abusive husband and wants to help Wendy escape but Wendy is far too scared of Douglas to let Millie help her. But Millie doesn’t give up and manages to help Wendy. What happens after that is for the readers to find out. Saying anything more would spoil the fun of reading it.

What I can say is that McFadden’s writing and craft have gotten better with each book. The Housemaid’s Secret kept me riveted. I was constantly second-guessing every action and I got quite a few things right. I could see where the story was headed yet I wasn’t prepared for many of the twists in the book.

There is a lot of tension and a fair bit of drama in the book. The story picks up in the second half and I didn’t want to put it down. You could read The Housemaid and then read the second book in the series if you want to know Millie’s backstory but it isn’t necessary. The Housemaid’s Secret works well as a standalone novel. With short chapters and crazy situations, the book will keep you entertained.

Fiction

The Housemaid’s Secret

Freida McFadden

Published: 2023

Publisher: Penguin Books

Pages: 365, Paperback