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Nadine

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Nadine

By: Vimi Bajaj
Narrated by: Tania Rodrigues
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About this listen

In this captivating debut story, a young woman in India about to plunge into an arranged marriage seeks the advice of an older friend - an eccentric expat who has led an unconventional life.

In a quiet suburb of New Delhi, two next-door neighbors develop a friendship: one, a young woman engaged to be married, and the other, Nadine: a woman in her 60s living with her second husband. We follow these two women through their phone calls and visits together, diving deeper into Nadine's storied past: With her larger-than-life personality and proclivity to defy society's conventions, her insight weighs heavily on her young friend, about to face a major turning point of her own.

Nadine is a poignant short story about the choices, big and small, that shape our lives.

©2021 Vimi Bajaj (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC. United States World Literature
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I was intrigued by both characters. The modern young Indian girl who is about to be married to a man her family have deemed suitable and who she seems to think is nice. She befriends an older woman-Nadine- who is an expat with an interesting life story.
The character of Nadine is more deeply drawn. I would have liked to understand the relationship between them better. Everything was in Nadine’s terms. It is a warning story about not fulfilling family expectations but living your individual life. However I would have loved to unpick Nadine’s a bit more. It stopped too soon. Was it a taster for a full length novel in the future?

Interesting story line that finished abruptly

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I love that Audible produces so many short stories and makes them available in the catalogue. The range is vast in every way, so your mileage will vary.

I found this a well written and observed piece about an unpleasant woman that gave me the experience of spending time with her, so I didn't enjoy it. I could certainly see it being interesting and cathartic to others.

Well Written, But Not For Me

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No real story line, main focus on one character and very repetitive. I wouldn’t recommend

No ending to the story

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I can’t work out whether I thought this was very good and fresh or if it’s just that it didn’t take too much time and I therefore found it breezy.
I can’t fathom much of an actual plot to this novella, but somehow it doesn’t matter? It’s like just being nosey and listening in on people which I think is the main point. However I don’t think this tallies much with the blurb. There’s so little *point* to it. It just is. And that’s oddly charming. It’s necessary discussion framed as perfectly normal yet outlandish at the same time. To add to this, it’s a narrative entirely by women, written by a woman. That’s so oddly rare in literature still.

It ends very abruptly and I found it almost jarring because I was just waiting for more of Nadine’s insights into patriarchal oppressive standards and suddenly it was “audible hopes you enjoyed” - it left me wanting more, which I suppose is the mark of an excellent storyteller.

I would say that anyone who wants to broaden their literary horizons should give it a go - if you don’t like it, it’s only an hour. And if nothing else, it’s refreshing to read/hear something from a first time author, for comparison along the lines should they release more. And since the author is a woman of colour, I do hope that audible making this available for free, her name is put out there more and she is encouraged to write more. Her use of language and literary techniques is wonderful! And the fact that I’m still somewhat mystified by the appeal of this novella is very intriguing to me.

I can’t work it out - I like it but I don’t know why it’s so charming

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It's mostly a monologue of Nadine's experiences with marriage and her views of men and independence. It's not very poignant.

Meh

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