The Book Review: One Hundred Shades of White by Preethi Nair

Hello! 

I would like to share a book review of a very special, lovely book that I stumbled upon at Sehes Haus while I did a Reiki Seminar. Between short breaks I read a couple of pages and  fell in love with it. I have neither heard of Preethi Nair before nor read any of her books. The Indian culture is also not too familiar to me. If eating at an awesome Indian Restaurant in New York twice counts, then I at least know a bit about their food. Let’s dive into the book, and thank you Martina for letting me take it home. 

About the author

Preethi Nair (1971) is of Indian heritage (Kerala, India) and moved to Britain when she was a child. She gave up her professional as a management consultant to follow her dream of becoming a writer. Her first novel, Gypsy Masala, was rejected several times but this did not stop her. She simply created her own publishing company and PR agency and published her book this way. “100 Shades of White” has been made into a television series in the UK. 

“My mother said that to lie is the coward’s way and that truth is whole, like black or white. But what if there are a hundred shades for truth?”

The language was very catching from the beginning and the story is told from two point of views – mother Nalini and daughter Maya. Nalini experiences a poor childhood in India and later fell in love with a man who she follows to England to start a new life. She leaves everything behind in India because she is truly happy and in love. Nalini does not speak English but she has no fear. She soon becomes pregnant with Maya and things changed pretty quickly from good to bad. Maya’s father works longer and longer hours and finally disappears. Both, mother and daughter find out that the truth is never black or white. Sometimes there are several shades to be taken into consideration. I loved the description of food and cooking and all the spices Nalini and her mother used. The contrast between an adults point of view and a child’s version is great and made me read on. 

While reading the book I learned why the author chose this particular title and that one should never judge anyone because you never know what this person is going through right now.  The mother/daughter relationship between Nalini and Maya is very well described and heartwarming. Also well laid out is Maya’s relationship to her brother and sister, her father and most importantly to herself. 

Overall, I thought that the characters are really well-developed and the story depicts the difference between their life in India and England clearly.  If you are into stories about love, forgiveness and discovering something new you will love to read 100 Shades of White. It also touches a bit on belief and that it is important to let go and discover something new.  This book is also a guide to peace, happiness, inspiration and wisdom. 

Visit Preethi Nair’s website or watch this short interview below. Get a copy of the book in English here or in German here. I really like the book cover for the German version! Enjoy! 

Have you read anything by Preethi Nair yet? I would love to hear from you. 

Thank you for reading my blog. 



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