Book Review: Where The Rainbow Ends by Anurag Anand

Anurag Anand, author of exciting books such as the Legend of Amrapali and Of Tattoos and Taboos! has come up with yet another good un. Anand’s third novel, Where The Rainbow Ends, combines good story telling with a complex plot and a surprise ending that is tailor-made for conversion into a movie.

Rahul Singh, so very middle class that his middle name could be M, thinks he is so very lucky to have won the heart of rich brat Shalini. Things get even better when, thanks to Shalini’s father’s influence, Rahul gets the sort of job he would not have even dreamed of, considering his MBA from a second tier institution. Rahul and Shalini live well and party hard. Marriage isn’t a bed of roses and soon Shalini’s addiction to alcohol and her natural petulance push them into troubled waters. Myra comes along, but the birth of the child fails to save Rahul’s marriage. Rahul fights hard to win custody of Myra and he wins, but his is left almost penniless as a result. His fabulous job, the direct result of his father-in-law’s influence, is yanked off.

When Rahul is wallowing in the doldrums, Avantika comes along, draped in an air hostess’s costume, but actually an angel in disguise. Rahul starts to believe he has found a rainbow and Myra too. When Myra is diagnosed with aplastic anemia, it is Avantika who stands by the father-daughter duo, pledging not only moral support, but also her own hard cash. Then suddenly Avantika vanishes from their lives. The billion dollar question is, is Shalini to blame for Avantika’s disappearance? Rahul has reason to suspect Shalini since Shalini has launched a second attempt to regain custody of Myra, citing Rahul’s inability to afford the expensive treatment needed to treat Myra’s condition. Rahul makes a desperate attempt to trace Avantika, though Myra and her illness weigh him down.

India has a number of very good writers who are second to none in their ability to write well in English. However, many of them suffer from a singular handicap, namely, the inability to spin a good yarn. Anand is one of those who stand out from the crowd, with his remarkable ability to concoct a good tale in functional, unadorned English that can hold the reader’s attention till the end.

An excellent book, please read Where The Rainbow Ends to find out why Avantika disappeared and if Rahul is successful in finding her.