Customer Reviews

Ladies Coupe

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ladies Coupe is one one best books that I have ever had the pleasure to read. Although it is set in India I believe that women of all enthic and religious backgrounds can relate in some way to Akhila. The roles of women and the expectations of family and culture on a womans purpose in life is beautifully explored in rich and touching detail. Akhila is 45 and has always been a dutiful eldest daughter. Her wants and needs have alsways taken second to a family who never appreciated her sacrifices.

Finally after years spent living by the rules and expecations of her family and culture Akhila decides to do something for herself regardless of what anyone else thinks. This is the beginnning of a journey of self discovery and life altering changes.

On the train Akhila meets four other women in the all women sleeping car; the Ladies Coupe. These women share thier life stories including the love and the heartaches.

I won't go into details about each womens story because I do not want to spoil the story. However, each womans story was just as touching as Akhilas.

This book asks the question that women no matter where they are from have been faced with at one point in their lives. Can a womans life be complete without a man and children?

For Akhila's answer you have to read the book.

Before early 1998 special counters for women, senior citizens and the handicapped were in Indian train stations in addition to ladies coupes in most overnight trains with second-class reservation compartments. The premise of Anita Nair's LADIES COUPE is based on this historical practice of granting women a separate space away from the eyes of strange men in the hustle and bustle of train travel throughout India, enabling women to talk about their marraiges away from the ears of their husbands.

When we first meet Akhila she is embarking on an extended train journey for reasons unknown. Her status in Indian society is precarious; she is a 45-year-old unmarried working. Akhila's traveling companions in her ladies coupe are immediately curious of her situation, but as time progresses and she reveals her life story the other women are not necessarily of the opinion that her life would be complete with a husband.

As their train rambles through the Indian countryside each woman tells her own story of childhood and marriage including grime circumstances highlighting lost liberties and unfilled love. There is not an overall happy story in the bunch. It is apparent that the status of contemporary Indian women is the focus of this book and of general concern to Anita Nair. What is most interesting is that men are not simply the enemy; rather, the portrayal of Akhila's younger sister as being selfish and vindictive illustrates how women can also deter the fulfillment of other women.

LADIES COUPE provides an intriguing glimpse into a small group of contemporary Indian women of different generations. This book is a good addition to the already growing selection of Indian literature. Also recommended is Rupa Bajwa's The Sari Shop and Samina Ali's Madras on Rainy Days.

This is an excellent book. It has an interesting narrative: in six stories different women are presented. Akhila's story, a 45-year old woman, who is seeking contentment in life, is the thread through the book and indeed we read it to the end curious to find out if she will be able to make the necessary decisions. This is a great book in which to find the common denominator in the universe of women's experiences. We are invited to consider if cultural, regional differences are indeed not just outward, cosmetic as it were, differences. And in the process discover that whether the woman is named Akhila, in India, Nicole in France, Mary Ann in the US or Mercedes in Mexico their stories can and often are very similar. This is a book filled with strong women, who took the reins of their lives in their hands and conquered. Sometimes it was just some small territory but enough to give each of them more power in her life. They suffer the consequences, but they LIVED! This is a book that liberates a woman's soul. Five stars!

I couldn't put this book down! Having been to India a few times this year this book brought back fond memories of my travels and the wonderful people I met.

I have read many books from indian authors. This one really touch me. It helps you understand what women in different cultures have to go thru in order to be independent and how different women see things differently! It makes you question your self why you want to live your life the way you do...
Do not miss it. Is is a beautiful written book.

Anita Nair's writing style is fluid however as a vivid reader of Tamil short stories and novels, I find the plots (both the main plot and sub plots) and the various metaphors and expressions used in the book to be things I have already encountered. May be the target audience of this book (probably not tamilians like me) justifies such usage.

Also, I found this to be a loosely cobbled together collection of short stories than a coherent novel. Each woman pours her heart out and says bye-bye. A better background than a rather uneventful train travel could have better forged the characters. It is also not clear if Akila derives any thoughts about her situation from the experiences of others. Given the ambiguous ending, it is not even clear if she came to some conclusion of what her future should be.

It was well written and i kept my interest in the book till the end.

The regret for not doing something is always more than the regret for doing something.
Correct is what makes us happy and it is much better to learn things by doing them wrong,
than by knowing it from elders and society and never doing it.
The 1st path always makes a person learn lessons of life and make him/her wise.

Let it be the story of the protagonist Akhila or that of the women Akhila comes across in the ladies' coupe`,
one messege is clear , they have suffered because they have gone overboard thinking about others,
sacrificing their wishes for the sake of family or husband or children to the extent of
changing their individiality. They have always done what it is expected out of them irrespective
of whether that makes them happy or not.

The women need to realise that they need to take care of themselves,they need to set the expectations of the society,
do that which will make him/her happy and what they think is right even if it goes against the norms of the society,
because, no matter the number of sacrifices they do the society is not going to fall back on them.

The sooner this realisation,the better.

I liked reading this book a lot. Ms. Nair has chosen women from different strata of society in modern day India and portrayed each of her characters in a very realistic manner, except for the character Margaret. While Margaret is educated and very insightful, I didn't like the way she reacts to her husband ultimately. Also the ending is not good. After Akhila takes that journey which is so commendable, there is no sense of direction. But overall, a very good book.

I bought this book on the advise of my friend. I dont say that this book is meant only for ladies, in fact peson who told me about is a male.
This book is about 5 different type of people that the protaganist meets on her way to escape from the all her resposibilties and ties. But I dont think the protaganist got her answer for the question 'can a woman be single and still be happy?'. I did not like that ending at all. You gotta read the book to know the ending.

Apart from that the boook seemed to be very realistic and self-retrospecting.