The Direction of the Wind – ARC Book Review

Nita Shah had everything most women dreamed of in her hometown of Ahmedabad, India—a loving husband, a doting daughter, financial security—but in her heart, she felt like she was living a lie. Fueled by her creative ambitions, Nita moved to Paris, the artists’ capital of the world—even though it meant leaving her family behind. But once in Paris, Nita’s decision and its consequences would haunt her in ways she never expected. Now that Sophie knows the truth, she’s determined to find the mother who abandoned her. Sophie jets off to Paris, even though the impulsive trip may risk her impending arranged marriage. In the City of Light, she chases lead after lead that help her piece together a startling portrait of her mother. Though Sophie goes to Paris to find Nita, she may just also discover parts of herself she never knew.

This was truly an emotional and heartbreaking book I have read.

The story starts with Sophie who is living in India and is about to get married. Her father passed away and while going through his belongings, she realized that her mother who she thought was dead had been living in France and had been sending letters to her father. Wanting to know the answers, Sophie embarks on a journey to France to find answers as to why her mother had been absent from her life for all those years. Nita Shah has everything a woman dreams of in Ahmedabad but she wanted independence and moves to France, where she meets a Frenchman named Matthias and soon her life start to change drastically.

I like the fact that this was realistically written. The effect how an arranged marriage could have on a woman, the regrets that a woman makes of one silly mistake and the determination to find the answers. What both Sophie and Nita going through are very realistic and I like the fact that the author beautifully wrote the two women’s part going back and forth between past and present realistically. Nita was a naive and not very accustomed to the outside world, soon falls into the life of sex and drugs as she starts a new life in France. Sophie on the other hand is intelligent although initially she fell at first a victim of two scammers. The cultural differences between the two countries was outlined in the book really well. So overall, I finished this book within one setting as this book takes the reader around the world from India to France to USA. I am going to check this author out and will read more books written by this author! Worth five stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.