Dirty Martini by Kavipriya Moorthy-Review

Dirty Martini is a romance fiction- second book by its author, Kavipriya Moorthy, a Chennai based foodie, blogger and writer. At a high level the book may look like a triangular romance story but detailing of the characters and plot makes it different from other books with same genre (2 guys, 1 girl, and romance story) The book is about 120 pages long and can be finished in one or two sittings. Below are some factors why I feel this book adds value or why one should read it, while there are hundreds of romance fictions of similar theme.

The NRI Groom: Many girls fall for NRI Grooms, as marrying a person well settled abroad is seen as easiest way to travel the world, enjoy comforts and luxuries of life not common in India. But many truths or harsh realities dawn upon the newly-weds only after moving abroad- the dependent visa they got won’t permit them to undertake any job, forcing them to be home alone, while NRIs are paid well, it is also possible that the expenses there are also proportionately higher, living  very little for discretionary spending, once initial excitement dies down, boredom may be hard to fight and in some cases the friends circle and relationships the groom might have had around his job abroad oblivious to his family back home, might come back to haunt the marriage. Obviously I am not suggesting all NRI marriage will end in a disaster, but brides should consider these possibilities and be prepared to face it, while being blown away be the prospect of marrying a person well settled abroad. Preeti’s experience in the book, where she was originally thinking “I can compromise on looks if he is a NRI” details this aspect of get married-move abroad lifestyle. 


Being bold: A girl has every right to take decisions of her choice. But we still live in a society that puts most of the responsibilities on women- when it comes to saving a marriage, compromising on career prospects and other priorities. Certain decisions are still deemed as very bad option for women (read the book for all the juicy details). The lead character in the book manages to defy all odds and stick to her stand, in spite of resistance from all around, in spite of potential difficulties the decision would bring. The sad part is many women themselves (in this case Prabhu’s relatives or Preeti’s mother) believe it is ok for men to do certain mistakes and a wife should not take them seriously. For the women out there who wanted to take certain tough decisions but either didn’t have the courage or decided to compromise due to family pressure, this book can be of some help.

To the guys- being sensitive: Many guys, though well-educated and have global exposure are still influenced by the typical social mind set when it comes to girls, relationship, wedding etc. Unknowingly they end-up making some comments/remarks on these topic which can easily offend a girl whose line of thinking doesn’t necessarily subscribe to what society thinks is right. Reading this book will certainly help the guys understand the same topic/situation from the girl’s perspective and be sensitive while discussing such topics with their women friends.

Few other thoughts

• On the editing part: I found dozens of places, mostly in the first part of the book where there was no space left betweenthewords. I wonder how editorial team missed them, since even MS Word would automatically highlight such words. There were similar errors in an earlier book by same publisher as well. It doesn’t make a huge difference to reading experience, only might annoy a bit if you’re looking for perfection. (Update: I am told this is some glitch in actual printing process, not editorial)
• There was a mention of Visa cancellation and getting the documents back- I didn’t understand this part, particularly because there was only a mention of a tourist visa at an earlier stage. But again, this could just be my unnecessary focus, as this visa thing doesn’t really impact the overall narration of the story.
• I hope Emirates gets back to Chennai- Dubai normal economy fare of Rs 8000…
• Mentioning Chennai airport’s glass pane collapse and using it in the plot is brilliant- Probably Dirty Martini is the first book to immortalize Chennai airport in this way.
• I felt the book could still have been equally interesting and useful without the detailed intimate narrations, right at the beginning of the book. But again, I understand I have no authority to dictate how author should narrate things.
• The dual track first person narration style took me some time to get used to, but once I got the hang of it, felt like the right way to narrate this story. Sometimes when the story is told in a linear way, it is very easy to predict- if I read few pages in the beginning, middle and the end, I will get high level plot. But when narrated in an interlinked manner, random reading won’t help. You will have to read from start to end.

Key Details
Title: Dirty Martini
Author:  Kavipriya Moorthy
Publisher - Story Mirror
ISBN13: 978-93-86305-01-5
Pages: 122
MRP: Rs 195

Above- A still from Dirty Martini unwrapping event- Photo taken from Author's (Extreme left) facebook page

In summary, Dirty Martini is not just a fiction- it has lots of life lessons people in the age group 20-40 can probably take home. Book is available in various bookshops and also on Amazon, so do grab a copy. Best wishes to the success of Dirty Martini. I was fortunate enough to attend the unwrapping of this book in Chennai last week and buy an autographed copy from the author herself. 

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