‘Mis(s)adventures of a Salesgirl’ has been penned by Aashisha Chakraborty. The author was chosen as one of the 75 pan-India authors under 30 for the PM YUVA scheme.
Here’s my review of the book.
PLOT:
25-year-old Enakshi Chatterji, also known as Ena, is sent to Chennai from Delhi for an internship in the sales domain. How she navigates the roller-coaster ride, along with a dark family secret that tumbles out of the closet, forms the crux of the story.
WHAT WORKED FOR ME:
Being a fan of humour, the work of fiction worked for me. The prologue is a first-ball sixer when baby Ena sneezes during her annaprashan. The finicky Ena has a tough time in a male-dominated territory, where she has to ride pillion on salesmen, learning the nitty-gritty of sales. Her travails of using the bathroom will resonate with women. Little doses of Bengali words make this authentic & relatable.
The language is breezy. The narration moves at just the right speed to keep the readers engrossed. I finished the book in a day. The character arc of Ena is good, as she transforms from a clueless girl to one who gains confidence, even after confronting the truth about her biological father.
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER:
A few vernacular phrases have not been italicised, thereby rendering the book a tad (only a tad) inconsistent. Halfway through the novel, I realised who Ena’s father was. But that’s on me. Moreover, it is not a thriller with red herrings to confuse readers.
I felt the love story of Ena & Ashwin to be sudden. As a reader expecting sparks between the Bengali girl and her South Indian boss Ram, the presence of Ashwin threw me off-guard.
Having said that, there is a teaser that Aashisha might attempt a sequel. Will Ram relocate to Delhi? Will time bend around certain obstacles and reach where it wants to reach? Maybe Aashisa & Ram are indeed made for each other. Who knows!
