Private Life of Mrs. Sharma (Kapur) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Renu, the mesmerizing narrator in Ratika Kapur's The Private Life of Mrs. Sharma, has a gift for self-deception. It is baffling, then funny, and then quite poignant to witness . . . . The story [The Private Life of Mrs. Sharma] tells is taut, focused; its wider setting, the new India, pops with life. But the real star of this show is Renu, the Mrs. Sharma of the book's title. She starts in one dimension, then gradually plumps into three.
New York Times - Jennifer Senior


[Mrs. Sharma's] words reveal a dignity more private and complex than society can perceive. The book is worthwhile, and quick to read--perfect for your train ride to work.
New York Times Book Review - Aditi Sriram


In Mrs. Sharma, Ms. Kapur has fashioned a memorably double-sided character for a novel that, like a gathering storm, changes before your eyes from soft light to enveloping darkness.
Sam Sacks - Wall Street Journal


One sign of a great novel is an ending that seems shocking when you read it but entirely inevitable when you look back over the events of the book . . . The Private Life of Mrs Sharma delivers this punch both emotionally and in terms of its plot. Tender and funny . . . [Kapur] is a gifted writer . . . The author’s language is vivid and brutally honest . . . a razor-sharp take on gender and economic inequalities.
Irish Times


Clever, wise . . . wonderfully funny . . . an easy pleasure to read . . . I will remember this book for years to come. The points it makes about motherhood, responsibility and self-deception are all so close to home . . . The feel of contemporary Indian life, caught between tradition and modernity, is brilliantly captured.
Newsday


In Ratika Kapur's compelling tale, narrator Renu is in need of fulfillment. While her husband tries to make it in Dubai, she remains in Delhi, feeling trapped and alone. Her escape: an affair with a magnetic stranger she meets on her commute.
US Weekly


This delightfully funny novel delivers a serious message about what happens when our responsibilities push us to the breaking point (Book of the Week).
People


If you're ready for ravishing glimpses into the secret passions of a contemporary yet traditional Indian wife, mother and medical worker who takes a lover, you'll adore The Private Life of Mrs Sharma
Elle


Mrs. Sharma's mounting omissions to her family will have you tearing through the pages of this provocative novel.
Marie Claire


The battle between then and now comes alive in Kapur's novel of life in an evolving India.... A beautiful, tragic, and highly recommended work by a writer previously long-listed for the Man Asia Literary Prize.
Booklist


(Starred review.) [Sharma's] fraught, often humorous and irreverent narration is a study in cognitive dissonance, in which she is constantly trying to reconcile the complex stimuli of Delhi with the image of herself as a simple woman from a good family.... Kapur proves that a gifted writer can still powerfully capture a complex voice from a singular place and time.
Kirkus Reviews