Today I have the great honor of featuring a brand new book by author Zee Monodee. Zee writes Stories about love, life, relationships... in a melting-pot of culture.
Zee is an author who grew up on a fence – on one side there was modernity
and the global world, on the other there was culture and traditions. Putting up
with the culture for half of her life, one day she decided she'd stand tall on
her wall and dip toes every now and then into both sides of her
non-conventional upbringing.
From this resolution spanned a world of adaptation and learning to live
on said wall. The realization also came that many other young women of the
world were on their own fence.
This particular position became her favorite when she decided to pursue her
lifelong dream of writing – her heroines all sit 'on a fence', whether cultural
or societal, in today's world or in times past, and face dilemmas about life
and love.
Hailing from the multicultural island of Mauritius, Zee is a degree
holder in Communications Science. She is a head-over-heels wife, in-over-her-head
mum to a tween son, best-buddy-stepmum to a teenage lad, an incompetent
domestic goddess, eternal dreamer, and an absolute, shameless bookholic. When
she isn’t penning more stories and/or managing the Ubuntu line at Decadent
Publishing, you can bet you’ll find her with her nose in her tablet, ‘drinking
in’ a good book.
The theme of Second Chances is very prominent in Zee’s stories, because she
herself, as a divorcee, found a second chance with a wonderful man she has now
called her husband for over a decade.
Zee started penning this story after reading the epic novel ‘A Suitable Boy’ by
Vikram Seth. She wanted to write a magnum opus; something to showcase ‘her’
world in Mauritius the same way Mr. Seth chronicled ‘his’ India. Alas, she
found she was totally fluffy and did not do well at all with a literary bent.
The result was The Other Side, a popular romantic comedy that had notes of Zee
TV/Bollywood dramas with an island vibe.
Zee’s initial plan was to write this one book and then be finished. Over the
course of the story, Lara’s two sisters – Diya and Neha – started whispering
their own tales...and the trilogy was born.
The Other Side is Zee’s first-ever penned novel, written in the year 2005, when
she was diagnosed with breast cancer and thus decided to live her dream of
writing a book. She drafted this book mostly during sleepless nights between
chemotherapy sessions, the outpouring of this tale becoming her therapy to cope
with her treatments.
From the Back Cover:-
Divorce paints a scarlet letter on her back when she
returns to the culture-driven society of Mauritius. This same spotlight shines
as a beacon of hope for the man who never stopped loving her. Can the second
time around be the right one for these former teenage sweethearts?
Indian-origin Lara Reddy left London after her husband
dumps her for a more accommodating uterus—at least, that’s what his desertion
feels like. Bumping into him and his pregnant new missus doesn’t help matters
any, and she thus jumps on a prestigious job offer. The kicker? The job is in
Mauritius, the homeland of her parents, and a society she ran away from over a
decade earlier.
But once there, Lara has no escape. Not from the
gossip, the contempt, the harassing matchmaking...and certainly not from the
man she hoped never to meet again. The boy she’d loved and lost—white Mauritian
native, Eric Marivaux.
Back when they were teens, Eric left her, and Lara
vowed she’d never let herself be hurt again. Today, they are both adults, and
facing the same crossroads they’d stood at so many years earlier.
Lara now stands on the other side of Mauritian
society. Will this be the impetus she needs to take a chance on Eric and love
again?
Here's a little taste of what you can expect inside the book :-
Lost in her thoughts, she rounded a dead corner of the hall, slamming
into someone’s side. Disoriented and dizzy with confusion at the jolting oomph
of impact against a solid form, she stumbled, losing control over her legs. She
saw the walls moving up rapidly, but a strong pair of hands grabbed her under
the arms before the back of her head hit the floor.
“Bon sang, mademoiselle! Où
courez-vous comme ça?” a rich, deep masculine voice asked on the sharp yet
lilting accent of white Mauritian natives.
Where are you running to, miss? he’d asked, from what her rusty
French could figure out.
Away from you. Something inside her acknowledged
the danger before she could process his words. She knew that voice. Her head
spun again, yet her mind was very alert.
Could it be…? No, it couldn’t. Her brain had to be playing tricks
on her. The sound with its particular accent belonged to the very distant past.
How was she hearing it at this moment? Had she fainted? That’s it. She wasn’t conscious, and since she’d probably worked
herself to exhaustion, the condition had triggered all sorts of switches in her
muddled consciousness.
The image of the man from the airport burned itself into her mind, and
she gasped. No!
“Is everything okay?” The chuckle had gone from the tone, replaced by
worry.
Solid strength still held her ribcage, the back of the hands warm and
smooth where they touched her arms. The heat from them went to her head,
churning all coherent thought into a jumble.
Her mind had to be playing a trick on her. He couldn’t be who she was
imagining. When, after a few seconds, it didn’t appear like she’d come around,
doubt invaded her heart.
Your eyes won’t betray you, they’ll
see the truth.
She risked a glance up beneath her lashes. She had to be certain if this
was real or not. To know this was all a trick of her imagination….
Lara encountered a tall form with broad shoulders outlined in a
short-sleeved shirt. The lapels of the opened collar framed a strong jaw and a
wide, full, and sensual mouth was set in a worried line above a square chin. A
fine, straight nose sent faint shadows over his lips.
She had to gulp back the ominous lump wedged in her throat. Her heart
beat a hammering throb in her chest, and her mouth went dry. Her suspicions
looked dangerously close to being confirmed, and the nagging notion played
havoc with her thoughts. She closed her eyes.
When she opened them, she found herself staring into a pair of blue
irises. A blinding flash went through her head, plunging her heart to her
knees. She’d recognize those irises anywhere. Deep-set, bright, and laughing
eyes the colour of the deepest ocean. The heavy, golden locks brushing his
forehead accentuated the frown knitting his eyebrows.
Locks that had somehow broken free from the thick, smoothed-back hair.
She itched to sweep them back, to run the tips of her fingers along his smooth
skin, like she used to in the past, onto the soft buzz of hair he used to keep
so short….
Her mind went into a crazy spin, and all her senses reeled as everything
became a vivid kaleidoscope of colours. Her stomach heaved, and her knees went
weak as her body became limp. But the man’s strong grip was still on her, and
he kept her steady on her feet.
“Are you okay? I think you better sit down here,” he said.
The voice made its way into her perception, and she couldn’t suppress
the relief that flooded her. His voice had always had such power over her.
He still hasn’t recognised me.
She’d
changed a lot in the past decade, and with her head still bent forward, her
hair shielded her face. She wanted to escape. She wanted to close her eyes, and
then open them to find it had all been a dream. Or a nightmare.
But this
was real, and how long could she remain incognito? Lara swallowed painfully. Of
all the people from her past, fate had had to choose that precise person to
shove along her path.
All of this
battled inside her mind as she allowed him to lead her to a sofa. After having
lowered her into her seat with extreme care and gentleness, her saviour sat
down next to her, turning to face her profile. The movement triggered the air
to move around him, and the smell of his aftershave—fresh, spicy, and very
elusive—filled her nostrils and made its way into her foggy mind.
He still smells the same. Like a cool sea breeze wafting
through the unique musk of a man’s warm skin.
Lara took a
deep breath and gathered her courage. She would have to face him sooner or
later. A part of her had always known she ran the risk of coming across him on
the island. She’d preferred to hide from the probability, but she couldn’t run
anymore.
So she
lifted her head. A frown marred the wide forehead on the face she encountered.
As devastatingly handsome as ever. Or maybe, even more than ever. His features
were arresting, masculine, adult. No longer those of a teenager.
Her mouth
went dry again, and her heart beat faster when the straight line of his lips
broke into a large smile a few seconds later. His eyes lit up as well, and
widened.
“I’ll be
damned! Lara? Is it really you?” he asked, switching effortlessly to English.
She forced
a smile and took a deep breath. “Hello, Eric. How are you?”
Available from:
Decadent
Publishing http://www.decadentpublishing.com/product_info.php?products_id=817&osCsid=uk690a1muqacdt8v6csmtuo7d2
Amazon
(available at the discounted price of $2.99) http://www.amazon.com/Other-Side-Island-Girls-ebook/dp/B00E77XHG6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375035073&sr=8-1&keywords=the+other+side+zee+monodee
