Ladies Coupé by Anita Nair – book review

Ladies Coupé is an Indian novel written by Anita Nair.

Through the meeting of six Indian women on a night train, the author questions the place of women in Indian society.

In this article, you will find:

• A quick summary.
• What I liked.
• Less liked.
• If I recommend it to you.

Ladies Coupé by Anita Nair.

Quick summary.

Ladies Coupé is Anita Nair’s first novel, quickly translated into 29 languages. Thanks to it, Anita Nair immediately established herself as one of the most important authors of Indian literature.

On a whim, Akhila, a Tamil woman in her forties who has never been able to live for herself, decides to take the train to the extreme south of India, Kanyakumari. She shares her sleeping compartment with five other women. Wondering if she should finally live for herself, she asks these women to tell her about their lives.

What I liked.

• Very different and endearing characters.
• Life paths and visions of things that are different, that make you think.
• We see the impact of the level of emancipation of each of these women on their lives.
• We are immersed in contemporary Indian society.
• We discover beliefs that are strongly anchored in the Indian imagination.
• It is interesting to see how some women justify their actions.
• We measure the weight of tradition still today in India.
• We measure the place of women, love, marriage and adultery in Indian society.
• A book that can be read easily and with pleasure.
• We focus only on the characters, without digression.

What I less liked.

• I couldn’t help but compare it to For Matrimonial purposes. I liked the book very much because of the self-derision of the author. Ladies Coupé is in comparison a much darker work, with some hard stories.
• The cross-references would have deserved to be on the bound page. Only at the end did I realize that there was a glossary.
• Although I liked to focus only on the characters, I regretted not having a description of the landscapes. This train ride to Kanyakumari offers breathtaking landscapes, inciting one to daydream.

Verdict on Ladies Coupé by Anita Nair.

I liked it very much and I recommend it !!!

For lovers of ethnography, India, Asian culture and psychology.

Obviously, we cannot help but draw a parallel with our society and the place of women. Are we really as emancipated as we pretend to be? Is there not always a norm that single and/or childless women are often viewed negatively, pejoratively in their career development, or even treated with disdain? The words of the eldest woman are quite edifying: it is normal that the married woman is treated like a princess, whose only responsibility is to her home, and that she considers the single woman inferior and with disdain?

Conclusion – Ladies Coupé by Anita Nair.

Feel free to buy and read Anita Nair’s Ladies Coupé to immerse yourself in contemporary Indian society. You will have a pleasant time reading and thinking.

Have you ever read this book? What did you think of it? Send us your opinion as a comment!

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