>Speedpost by Shobha De

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Book Review by Priya Iyer

This is a rant about Shobha De’s book – Speedpost.

I got the book because I loved the synopsis, and I liked De’s style in ‘Spouse’ – the first piece of writing I read by her, a long, long time back. So, I gave it a shot, and I absolutely LOVED it!! This is the first time I have read a book consisting of letters, and I quite liked it!

Speedpost is a collection of letters written by De to her 6 children, at various stages of their lives. The subjects of these letters are varied –chastising them for late-night telephone calls, Internet addiction, excessive spending, the fast fading significance of age-old traditions, and about several other memorable big and little occasions in their lives. As always, I liked her bold style of writing, and the real-life element in the letters touched me quite a lot.

I just loved this aspect of Shobha De – the modern-day, confident, sentimental, busy but concerned working mother. I have always admired super moms for their ability to handle it all, and that’s one reason I loved this book too. I could relate to a lot of points in the book.

My misconception of the way celebrity kids lead their lives was broken as I went on turning page after page of this book. From what De says, all of her children have had quite ordinary lifestyles, much the same as other middle-class kids. That, apart from the beautiful way De connected with her kids in spite of having a hectic schedule, made me like her quite a lot. Now, I am really looking forward to read other books by her!

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