Love Potion Number 10

Aah, what a lovely long weekend it’s been. It’s been a full weekend, with family visiting from Chennai, lots of shopping, cooking, even a little golf, and general catching up.

In the middle of all this hullabaloo, it’s also turned out to be a weekend of reading. That’s because once I started reading Love Potion Number 10 by Betsy Woodman, I couldn’t stop. I was so enchanted by it that I finished it in a single session.

Also, I knew my mom would love this book. I had praised the book to the skies, and I needed to finish it up so she could take it home to read on her journey back to Chennai.

So what’s the book all about?

I’m not going to tell you too much about it. It’s a book best uncovered one page at a time over a hot cup of chai or soup. All curled up under a blanket.

Here I am merely listing the bare bones of the story.

This book is the second book of a proposed trilogy by author Betsy Woodman.

The first book in the series is Jana Bibi’s Excellent Fortunes, which came out last year. After reading so many positive reviews, It’s a straightforward book about the joys of the simple things in life. I didn’t actually read the first book but was curious enough to try the second one.

The story is about Jana Bibi – a fifty-nine-year-old lady who is an Indian citizen of Scottish origin. She lives in a fictional small town in the Himalayas (somewhere in the present-day Uttarakhand, is my guess) in the early 1960s. The town is very sweetly called Hamara Nagar (our town) and is small enough that everybody knows everybody.

In this book, Jana Bibi and her fortune-telling parrot Mr.Ganguly are receiving a lot of unwanted attention. It appears that there may be a plot to steal Mr.Ganguly, and Jana Bibi and her friends are on their guard. Also, some romantic possibilities appear on the horizon, and it seems that Jana Bibi may find love at last.

How do things work out for Jana Bibi and her friends?

My thoughts

I loved this book. I Loved, loved it. It’s rare that I wholeheartedly enthuse myself about a book. As a book blogger, I tend to notice the weaker aspects of a book a lot more than I used to.

And even though the book does have its flaws (a too neatly packaged ending), I can totally overlook it and recommend it to all and sundry.

Please read this book not for the fast-paced story (it’s not one of those) but for the engaging characters and colorful setting. If you ever feel nostalgic about the good ole times, this book is right up your alley.

Some reviews online have compared Betsy Woodman’s writing style as a cross between R.K Narayan and Ruskin Bond. While I wouldn’t go that far, she does take me to an India that I missed out on and only know about from my grandmother and mom’s retelling.

Another great thing about this book? It’s completely inoffensive. I can heartily recommend it to people knowing that I will not offend anyone’s religion or moral (no violence or sex in this book). Hell, I can tout this book’s virtues to my mother! It’s great when I come across a book like that 🙂