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The Candid Life of Meena Dave by [Namrata Patel]

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Namrata Patel

The Candid Life of Meena Dave Kindle Edition

by Namrata Patel (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.3 20,566 ratings

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A woman embarks on an unexpected journey into her past in an engrossing novel about identity, family secrets, and rediscovering the need to belong.

Meena Dave is a photojournalist and a nomad. She has no family, no permanent address, and no long-term attachments, preferring to observe the world at a distance through the lens of her camera. But Meena’s solitary life is turned upside down when she unexpectedly inherits an apartment in a Victorian brownstone in historic Back Bay, Boston.

Though Meena’s impulse is to sell it and keep moving, she decides to use her journalistic instinct to follow the story that landed her in the home of a stranger. It’s a mystery that comes with a series of hidden clues, a trio of meddling Indian aunties, and a handsome next-door neighbor. For Meena it’s a chance for newfound friendships, community, and culture she never thought possible. And a window into her past she never expected.

Now as everything unknown to Meena comes into focus, she must reconcile who she wants to be with who she really is.

Print length

312 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Lake Union Publishing
Publication date

June 1 2022
File size

4416 KB
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Popular Highlights in this book

What are Popular Highlights?

Once you are over the age of 30 you can no longer blame the past or your parents for the way you are. Fix yourself, it’s within your control.
Highlighted by 817 Kindle readers
Aloneness was a choice, but loneliness felt different. A disconnection from others that felt more like a condition of how she lived her life.
Highlighted by 595 Kindle readers
There is no order to life. While time is linear, we do not have to live within its confines. The second one: Expectations of how things must be are an anathema.
Highlighted by 362 Kindle readers

Product description

From the Publisher

Meena Dave feels safer observing the world through her camera. Her adoptive parents have passed away—she has no other family and no permanent address. But Meena’s world is turned upside down yet again when she unexpectedly inherits an apartment in Boston.

Journalistic curiosity piqued, Meena decides to follow the story that landed her in a stranger’s apartment. It’s a mystery that comes with nosy aunties, a strikingly handsome neighbor, and a connection to her past that shocks her. Meena might have a chance to truly understand where she comes from. As she unravels not only the clues of her apartment but also her origins, Meena learns how to make the perfect chai, embrace friendships she never saw coming, and confront her own need to run as soon as the going gets good.

The Candid Life of Meena Dave stole my heart. Namrata Patel brings a much-needed voice into women’s fiction with culture, friendship, families lost and found, and a second chance at finding home.

—Megha Parekh, Editor

About the Author

Namrata Patel is an Indian American writer who resides in Boston. Her writing examines diaspora and dual-cultural identity among Indian Americans and explores this dynamic while also touching on the families we’re born with and those we choose. Namrata has lived in India, New Jersey, Spokane, London, and New York City and has been writing most of her adult life. For more information visit www.nampatel.com.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09K7J47Y8
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lake Union Publishing (June 1 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 4416 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 312 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #5,954 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #23 in Asian American Literature (Books)
- #23 in Stories of Friendship
- #123 in Humorous

Customer Reviews:
4.3 20,566 ratings

About the author

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Namrata Patel

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Namrata Patel is an Indian American writer who resides in Boston. Her writing examines diaspora and dual-cultural identity among Indian Americans and explores this dynamic while also touching on the families we’re born with and those we choose. Namrata has lived in India, New Jersey, Spokane, London, and New York City and has been writing most of her adult life. For more information visit www.nampatel.com.

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

20,566 global ratings

5 star		51%
4 star		34%
3 star		12%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from Canada

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Tina Othberg

Really good

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on June 7, 2022

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Another Amazon First Read win! Seriously, if you aren’t taking advantage of this Amazon perk, you need to! I’ve read so many great books and this one was no exception. Excellent character development, really great story, highly recommend.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on November 23, 2022

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This was a very enjoyable book with a great story line and message as well. A nice break from books with complicated plots. Great characters.

Helpful

Wesdyne Amyotte

Running away only to find your Home.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on July 12, 2022

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The story weaves 2 love stories together. The notes left for Meena lead us on a journey towards intimacy and family. Both of which are as complex and difficult to decipher as the notes. Letting go, surrendering to vulnerability, accepting grief as a starting point.
Recommend this story to anyone who has felt on the outside. Those who feel left out of Norman Rockwell’s illustrations. Meena is wandering through the diaspora of loss, taking baby steps towards feeling at home, and reluctantly accepting that she can be in the palm of love. That love, family is complex and more than what you thought it meant.
The characters are well crafted. The dialogue sounds natural. Pour a cup of chai, with plenty of ginger, and settle into this gossipy, intriguing book.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on September 12, 2022

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I was drawn in to the story from the beginning. It made me think of my own indigenous grandmother who lost her cultural identity due to colonialism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The book was an excellent read start to finish.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on September 21, 2022

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I really enjoyed the quick pace of the book. The characters and their relationships were well developed and the book touched on a lot of really interesting issues regarding adoption, culture, and home.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on June 19, 2022

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This was a Amazon first reads book and I am glad I decided to pick it. Loved it. I did not want it to end. This was the authors debut novel, can't wait for the next one due out in 2023.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on July 12, 2022

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Great summer reading; relaxed, thoroughly enjoyed it. The discussions regarding belonging and traditions were inspiring!! Looking forward to more from this author.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on July 2, 2022

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I loved this book. Enjoyed learning about Indian culture
and exploring who you really are. Made me want to explore my Irish culture mire.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

RMRobertson

Why did I enjoy this book so much?

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 10, 2022

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How unexpected - a book belonging to a genre (don't ask me to pigeonhole it!) I normally avoid like the plague and yet read to the end without ever wearying of the rather meandering plot/storyline. In fact, I loved every page of meander. Why? Because the reader, almost from the first page, finds themself drawn into Meena's life with all its false assumptions and contradictions, just like those that we all carry with us. There were so many places in the book where I stopped to consider how Meena's dilemmas were those I've wrestled with in my own life, and how comforting it was to read how she resolved those dilemmas and perhaps I could too. This is a book which cleverly strips away the disguises that humans wear to hide their weaknesses and celebrates the power of friendship. I look forward to reading Ms Patel's next book. She has a glittering career ahead of her.

6 people found this helpful

Boingboing

Finding your roots

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 6, 2022

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What would you do if your independent life of international wanderlust was suddenly interrupted by an unexpected gift? What if it was a valuable and beautiful apartment in a historic house in Boston?

International photojournalist Meena has no family. She knows she was adopted but her adopted parents were killed when she was 16. She has no fixed abode and no commitments. She rolls around the world like human tumbleweed. The gift of the apartment in the so-called 'Engineers house' is one she wasn't looking for and doesn't think she wants. Suddenly from being entirely free and easy, she's got a cute neighbour with a dog and a bunch of Indian 'aunties' all wanting to interfere in her life. And then there are the mysterious notes from Neha, the woman who left her the legacy, who is trying to guide her to long forgotten answers.

It's a pleasant if none too taxing read. Nobody will be too surprised by what happens and the plot of an independent person realising it might be time to slow down will not be unfamiliar. I liked it but I will probably have forgotten it a week from now.

4 people found this helpful

Eunice. C

Heart warming with too much sentiment

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 7, 2022

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I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It was delightful. I chose it as a light read because I was on bed rest, but it was far from that. The main characters were beautifully constructed and the storyline draws you in until you are hooked and can't put it down until you know what happens next. I really identified with Meena, the loneliness, of independence, and the certainty that you can only depend on yourself. It is all too common in the world We live in now.. But mostly I felt that I would have loved to be part of that "family".

3 people found this helpful

The Reading Room

Solid debut novel

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 19, 2022

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A sweet and somewhat sentimental tale about a young woman’s search for self-identity – 3 Stars

When Meena Davis inherits an old property in Boston, her life suddenly has roots. Previously untethered by family, career, or personal responsibility, she suddenly finds herself examining life from a different perspective, and with that comes a desire to understand what defines her as a person…

This is another book where the main character’s life is changed by a property inheritance and, to be honest, that’s a plot device that I’m getting a little tired of. That said, this is a solid debut novel. It’s an easy, undemanding read, but I liked Meena’s character, and felt her search for self-identity was well, if somewhat sentimentally, portrayed.

Overall: Easy-reading, but its use of predictable plot devices in an attempt to elicit an emotive response didn’t quite work for me.

sah

Emotional and uplifting

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 4, 2022

Verified Purchase

Enjoyed this, it’s different, well written, lovely descriptions and great cultural knowledge. Would recommend it to anyone, not my normal choice but well worth the read.

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The Candid Life of Meena Dave Kindle Edition

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About the author

Namrata Patel

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