The Village by Nikita Lalwani

from goodreads

1 star

Since I didn't read past page 50 I will use the synopsis from the cover.

Synopsis (as stated above this is not my own synopsis, but from the cover of the book)

After a long trip from London, twenty-seven-year-old BBC filmmaker Ray Bhullar arrives at the remote Indian village of Ashwer, which will be the subject of her newest documentary. From the outside, the town projects a cozy air of domesticity -- small huts bordering earthen paths, men lounging and drinking tea, women guiding bright cloth through noisy sewing machines. Yet Ashwer is far from traditional. It is an experimental open prison, a village of convicted murderers and their families.

As Ray and her crew settle in, they seek to win the trust of Ashwer's residents and administrators: Nandini, a women's counselor and herself an inmate; Jyoti, a prisoner's wife who is raising her children on the grounds; Sujay, the progressive founder and governor of the society. Ray aims to portray Ashwer as a model of tolerance, yet the longer she and her colleagues stay, the more their need for a dramatic story line intensifies. And as Ray's moral judgement competes with her professional obligation, her assignment takes an uneasy and disturbing turn.

My Thoughts

I think the idea of the book is interesting. There is probably a great story in there, but I could not get into the book.

The main character, Ray, was hard to figure out and feel any kind of emotion for. I didn't know if I wanted to like her, sympathize with her, dislike her, tell her to get a life... it was one crazy roller coaster.  She seemed more interested in how people thought of her than actually trying to make any kind of connection with them. I just found her frustrating and thus didn't care what happened to her. That in turn, meant I really didn't care if I knew more about the story.

This might have been a case of trying to read the book at the wrong time. Sometimes you try out a book and it is not for you. Then you pick it up a few years later and it is a great read. So, perhaps, I may try it again, but it won't be for a long time.

To be fair, I did skip ahead to see if there was anything that piqued my interest enough to keep trying to read it. I did not find a thing.

So to sum up, interesting subject, lacklustre execution.