Almost Single [Paperback]

Advaita Kala (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 24, 2009

In a city where old is meeting new, daughters are surprising mothers, and love is breaking all the rules, this heartfelt and wickedly funny cross-cultural debut novel introduces a smart, irreverent young woman searching for independence and matrimony in a culture bound by tradition.

Between elegant soirees and the occasional mortifying mishap, Aisha Bhatia’s job as guest relations manager at New Delhi’s five-star Grand Orchid Hotel is intermittently fabulous—she certainly knows her wines and cheeses. But despite a life filled with good friends and first-class travel accommodations, the fact is that not many twenty-nine-year-old women in India are single—as Aisha’s mother never fails to remind her. Somewhere a clock is ticking, though as far as Aisha is concerned, it can be cheerfully drowned out by laughter over a champagne brunch. Yet when the handsomely chiseled Karan Verma arrives from New York, Aisha experiences an unexpected attitude adjustment. Karan is everything she’s ever wanted…that is, if she actually knew what she wanted. Is it possible that she’s about to find out?

Savvy, sexy, and unforgettable, Almost Single tackles the loving, exasperating tug-of-war between mothers and daughters, traditional customs and contemporary romance—and what happens when a modern Indian woman is caught in the middle.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this amusing though flawed novel, Kala introduces the Bridget Jones of India. Aisha Bathia is an independent 29-year-old single woman living in New Delhi working as a guest relations manager at the five-star Grand Orchid Hotel. The job seems fabulous, but in reality the hours are bad and so is the pay. And Bathia's life as a modern woman is small compensation: a 29-year-old woman in India is not supposed to be unmarried. With her two best friends, Misha and Anushka (recently divorced from her cheating husband), Bathia searches for love, trying everything from online dating to fasting during Karva Chauth, the traditional Hindu festival for married women. But Bathia has her eye on only one man, Karan Verma, the handsome investment banker from New York, even though as things move along she begins to question exactly what she is looking for. While the romance scenes are not very tense or romantic, Kala hits a bull's-eye with the situations Bathia and her cohorts finds themselves in. With a plethora of disappointing chick lit novels out there, Kala achieves what many cannot—she makes her readers laugh aloud. (Feb.)
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From Booklist

Aisha Bhatia enjoys her job as a guest-relations manager at a five-star New Delhi hotel, and her jaunts with her circle of singleton friends, but at 29 she is past prime marrying age, and her mother won’t let her forget it. Then Karan Verma, a handsome businessman, checks into the hotel during a move from New York to India. While Aisha helps Karan find an apartment and plan a housewarming party, her role evolves from personal assistant to pseudogirlfriend.  Even as they develop feelings for one another, Aisha questions whether marriage is really her calling. Debut novelist Kala offers chick lit with an Indian twist. Although the ups-and-downs of relationships will be familiar territory for readers, Kala’s depiction of New Delhi, where tradition intersects with modernity—with such curious results as marriages arranged online—is distinctive. Her likable heroine, witty dialogue, and slightly saccharine plot will also attract romance readers. --Aleksandra Walker

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Product Details

• Paperback: 276 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Discovery (February 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553386107
• ISBN-13: 978-0553386103
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #887,741 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Lousy read, June 27, 2009

By 

Megs (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Almost Single (Kindle Edition)

I picked up this book, as a light chick lit read, with no expectations but to be entertained. However, this book fails on that front as well.
Bad writing. Unreal. Dumb.
I am not a fan of chick lit, but this book held some promise since the setting was India. I have been a young professional woman working in Mumbai, and yet I could not identify with the settings at all. The dialogue does not belong to yuppie Delhi at all.
The author tries to attempt to create an Indian Bridget Jones, and she fails miserably since she seems to have no clever wit, the kind that makes you chuckle to yoursef. Don't bother with this one- Rereading the original Bridget Jones will be more satisfying.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Call a spade a spade, March 21, 2009

By 

SG (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Almost Single (Paperback)

If you are looking for a deep and introspective book - this is not it. This is a fun and shallow book that could be about a girl looking for a man anywhere. It was a quick light read. Kind of like when you're surfing the channels and see Millionaire Matchmaker, you may stop and see it. But it's not on your TIVO schedule.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Avoidable, December 6, 2009

By 

Canada-reviewer (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Almost Single (Paperback)

Little to like, and even less to laugh about in this story of a shallow, materialistic heroine who meets a uni-dimensional (rich) hero. The novelty of the Indian setting is little compensation for the banal prose and plot.