Review: Rani's Review
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 7, 2013
Rani of Rampur begins with a murder but that's not the mystery.It's an open secret that Vir Singh killed his first wife. That's why Rani's mother refused to marry him. Running away instead with Rani's father. Nearly twenty five years pass and everyone is miserable. Rani's mother is a nag; her father is a drunk, at least according to her mother; one sister wants to be a movie star and the other wants to be a journalist like her older sister, Rani. Pretty and practical, Rani tries to ignore the misery and live her own life. But that life changes when a request for Rani's help comes from her mother's sister. Who, after Rani's mother's elopement, had been forced by their father to marry the cruel, but wealthy Vir Singh.Rani returns to her mother's childhood home of Rampur, more to learn if her mother had been cheated out of a family inheritance by her sister and her avaricious husband, Vir Singh; than to help with the upcoming wedding. It doesn't take long for Rani to realize there is something very rotten in Rampur. And for Vir Singh's son from his first marriage to become attracted to Rani. That's when the murder mystery really takes place.I'm admittedly unfamiliar with India, its people, customs and languages and so was intrigued by this story. It's told in present tense with very formal language which, for me, created a distance from the characters. I'm not sure if this is a byproduct of language and culture or the writer's natural style. Or perhaps a little of both. At times I felt as if I was reading a novel written in the 19th century, due to both the writing style and the attitudes and behaviors exhibited by the characters themselves. But then a casual reference to a dvd or cell phone would pop up and I would be thrust back into the 21st century. It was an interesting experience. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in exploring an unfamiliar culture.