The Swap - Shuma Raha

Fiction

Verdict: Uncertain

I came across this novel in my favorite book store, as has happened with so many before. It looked vaguely interesting so I thought to give it a try. Afterall, spouse swapping isn't a common (talked about in public) topic, and I was curious how the author would approach it. India has a strange way of hiding or appearing to hide many topics and then flagrantly parading them out in public as if it's normal in the name of modernity. It's a little dissonant sometimes.

Anyhow. The book opens to a well off couple (obviously) who have a friend who knows someone who throws spouse swapping parties. The wife is already having an affair with another friend. She has a lot of guilt and has hidden it well. The couple is talked into participating in a party and follows the normal trajectory of many people who choose to have open relationships - it's not easy. The husband ends up falling in love with the wife's lover's wife and they have an arrangement like that for a long time until finally it feels too weird for the wife and she calls a halt to it. It makes one wonder what was her motivation for that affair in the first place. There's a lot of blame and bitterness throughout the book about expecations and fidelity, and in the end, the couple ends up working it out, to my surprise.  There was also a weird side not about a street boy who was helped by the wife. 

To say it was a whirwind book with some unexpected attitudes is a little underrated. The author made swapping seem....so....normal. Open relationships - normal. I also felt that she could have gotten much further into the relationship between the main husband and wife. They were almost like cookie cutter stereotypes. I get that it's easy for multiple audiences to identify with such characters, but when you're dealing with the essence of marriage and an intimate relationship, such characters fall flat. 

I still think this book is worth reading because it challenges an Indian audience with sexuality, marriage expectations, and intimacy. As I mentioned previously, highly charged subjects that aren't always approached openly. An honest look at the fallout of such choices also helps people to be informed and not romanticize them - Always a good idea.

Read it!

~Becky~