Forbidden Desires

by Madhuri Banerjee

‘Why do romantic relationships fade away? Does the magic slowly die? Or do lovers simply wake up one morning realizing they are done? Is it a trick that time plays on happy couples or is it something more profound, an evolution perhaps, of our feelings and our needs?’

Imagine there is a person you know nothing about, who is slowly destroying your marriage. Imagine there is a stranger who enters your life and makes you realize you are living a lie. Imagine there is a love so deep that you need to sacrifice everything you have to save it. Imagine you find out your partner is cheating on you. What will you do?

Naina, Ayesha, Kavita and Kaajal are four women who know nothing about each other and live cocooned in their individual worlds. Until one day, they’re forced to reckon with shocking truths they never imagined! Their desires haunt them, provoke them and make them fight to choose a new path in their lives. Will these women survive their stories of passion, betrayal and pain?

Bestselling author and film writer Madhuri Banerjee brings to you a new romantic thriller that interweaves varied stories of women and their passions, to show us how all relationships ultimately crash into each other.

Genres: Chick Lit, Audiobook

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Manoj Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a story line.. very difficult to decide which character to love the most and which one to love less.. all are lovable and yes on can definitely learn to save the marriage if in trouble and also it may help to make decision easy whether to keep the marriage or leave it for new loved one ... #ForbiddenDesire @mahuribanerjee

[Shrikanth Venne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forbidden Desires is a story about 4 woman Naina, Ayesha, Kavita, Kajal. Naina a super hot chef in a multi start hotel working in London meets Kaushik have a very sexy affair get married come back to Delhi and have two kids. In the process of kids the spark between Kaushik and Naina is gone and they are grown apart from loving each other. Naina being a chef attains a very good stature by becoming a master chef. She takes cooking classes. But the spark in their marriage is gone. Then she meets her parlor friend Pinky who gives her Arjun as a student. Ayesha a wife of IPS Varun, Having a arranged marriage and a kid there was never love between her and her husband. But living a happy family life. She goes to a party of Harshwardhan a upcoming politician who can become a prime minister. She is approached by Harsh for some speech clarification this way they become a friend. Kavita A gynecologist married to Gaurav. Its a love marriage but Kavita being in command of her home and Gaurav's male ego coming into place Kavita is also not happy with the same marriage. Then she goes for a conference in Goa and meets Sara Imam. She becomes close to her. Kajal kavita's sister working as a lawyer and has a affair with a married man. But she also needs a closure in her relationship as where its going. How these 4 life intervene with each other is the last part of the book. Overall how these forbidden desires are uncovered in the last part is the remaining book. Overall I would say it was a good book and the closure of one of the woman is not as expected but it was the right decision that the author has taken related to one of the woman. Overall I would say a very good Goodread... :)

[Shoma Abhyankar · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 'Forbidden Desires' is a story of such women who at some point of life have realized that they have been betrayed in their relationship but instead of wallowing in sorrow, they free themselves and dare to find someone who understands them, reciprocates their love and stands by their desires to follow their passions.
The story is of Naina who gives up her passion of having her own restaurant to plunge headlong into taking care of family in the process losing the vivacity of her marriage and is betrayed by one whom she loved most. This is the story of Ayesha who never got an equal commitment in her marital relationship yet kept trying to find sanity in her marriage. This is also the story of Kavita who despite being a successful working woman could not find enough love and respect within her marriage. And story is about Kajal who dares to break the society's rules by desiring a married man, fighting for her love and yet choosing to not tie herself up in a marital bond.
These women walk out of their marriages to find a new love and follow their dreams. Their lives are entwined. They realise the futility of hanging on to a dead relationship which binds both the partners.
I will not deny that marriages do not go through a rough patch when you doubt whether there is anything left worth saving but honestly speaking I haven't yet met women who have dared to give up on marriages... May be there are women in similar situations as the characters of the story in reality too but who still are afraid to call their marriages a farce.... Or it is possible that real women have not met a character like author's 'Pinky' who sets up the situations and fixes the meetings and forces the person to behave in an out of ordinary way when they are at their emotional lows.
Madhuri's women want more magic and more romance in their monotonous life. There are small snippets from life of each character which many of us might relate to in small doses. The book makes for one spicy mix of stories so well woven that I found it difficult to put it down. As they say gossip about other people always make for an interesting topic...and I enjoyed peeking into the juicy life of the four women and their affairs(now I understand why women are crazy about Ekta Kapoor's serials and their hideously painted women)
Being a screenplay writer for Hindi Cinema, the author has belted out a crowd-puller of a story. It would not surprise me if the book becomes one masala movie.
Read it if gossip is your tea...
Read more at http://www.shomabhagwat.wordpress.com

[Kanwarpal Singh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is story of Naina, Ayesha, Kavita and Kaajal are four women who know nothing about each other and live cocooned in their individual worlds. A story of love , lust , pain, desire and finding self and identify there priorities and modern day love and choices.

Naina a celebrity chef who want to open her hotel but husband is not supporting, and kaushik being lawyer make life tough for everyone as he doesn't want to monogamous relationship and he fall for Kaajal who want same kind of relationship,while Pinky fix Naina with Arjun for his cooking classes and later when Naina and kaushik split both went separate ways and both get what in there career and relationship.

Ayesha is not happy with Varun because of his gambling and rude behaviour and disrespectful nature so Pinky set her up with Harshvardhan who want women to mould him and intellectual who help him grow but being a minister a public figure things doesn't go there way so they mend way and conclusion say maybe there is something left. Later Ayesha became a NGO worker for women impowerment.

Kavita a gynaecologist and her husband is Gaurav who is a compounder and always find ways to berate her and her job because she was earning more then her. Later when they separated, Kavita came to know that she is bisexual and her mother supported her and they divorced. She find herself with Sara as both are doctors who run there clinic and gave career there importance and priority

The Naina group of women gang Tarini, Simran , make her realise her potential and that was an comic relief moment for novel too and later we find the real identity of pinky and what makes her happy except for her beauty parlour

[Thebookvamp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Forbidden desire by Madhuri Banerjee talks about Indian feminine mindset and how women tackle their emotions. In this story there are 3 women facing there own obstacles and overcoming it.
In my point of view having an affair is not a solution. Love as to be preserved in every relationship. Sadly men don't get it. And also they don't read these kinds of books. If they finally understand that a women gives and gives the love everyone around her and she needs to behave in every circumstances. Women should supress her emotions. The only thing she expects against all of this is love and affection from her husband. She will be happy when she gets hugs for no reason but pure love. When you atleast try to understand her emotions she would be way more comfortable. She will love to cuddle with u (husband) and have a meaningless conversation. Atleast one love making for a week (note it i said love making not just sex) will do. If u can just do this with her in rest of your life (again note it rest of your life, this is not only for young couples)u own her and she will be urs forever.
Okay coming back to the story, character shaping was great and i was impressed by authors writing style. Only because of her way of writing this book got intresting. If it was said in any other way definitely we will get bored. She took the characters in hand and mold it. The plot was well spaced. Naina is my favourite character.
I recommend men's to read it so that u can understand the women's perspectives. Women's if u love a feminine gulab then this is ur piece of cake.

[Manish Choudhary · Rating 4 out of 5]

discusses how the modern indian societies still hold to such soul-sucking standards of being in an "acceptable" state of being, and that just causes so much pain and suffering. not just indian this is true over all where couples stay together because of kids / family / convenience rather than compation and mutual respect.

i specially loved it when Tarini argues in favor of marriage as being more than just carnal attraction, although i'll admit in that context she was also promoting free-loading but it was just such a fresh prospective that it got me. 🤷‍♂️guess i'm just a sucker for standoffs.

Still each theme was thoughtfully explored, never seemed too out there or far fetched, just immaculately written.

made a character map, as it was hard for me to follow it in audio format (in 2x speed xD) enjoy:
[image error]

[Prathima Kamath · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across this book when my favorite author, Preeti Shenoy, mentioned it on her page. She reads a lot and the way she explained about this book, I felt as if I HAVE to read it. I immediately went to Kindle, downloaded it, and started to read it. I was amazed at how life in India has changed so much. It is not just about conventional marriages, like how it is portrayed in Movies and in Reel Life. When I read each chapter, I could feel myself in each of the characters shoes, I could feel their love, frustration, resentment, happiness, etc. I had never heard of Madhuri Banerjee before. However, after reading Forbidden Desires, I feel like reading more of her books. This is the first time I have read such a long book on Kindle. Just liked it soooo much! Thanks, Preeti for the recommendation!

[A · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting concept but poorly written book laden with several typos. The author had the right idea, but she tended to “tell” rather than “show”. The beginning of the book felt more like a summary than a story. But I felt lots of sympathy for Naina, Ayesha, and Kavita and I don’t care what they did because their husbands were pieces of trash. Kaajal, however? Her character and entire story disgusted me. Homegirl really went to bat for a cheating married father and had the nerve to confront his wife — absolutely pathetic. Well you know what they say, Kaajal? How you get them is how you lose them. And he will do the same with you. Overall, I liked the message of female empowerment and how women in our society are expected to live for others and put themselves last.

[Isha Karmakar · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay.
The conclusion the story led to is quite good, unexpected, and I think society needs to understand the concept of love and marriage like this. But the story was quite slow paced.
At first the way the author showed all the characters separately, I thought it was a book of some interview or something. But fortunately I continued reading it and finally all of these connected in a single thread. Although this concept is quite interesting, to be honest it's not for me. Maybe if I read this in the paperback version, I might not have continued reading it. It's that much slow paced.

Not recommending unless you like slow paced reads.

[Shweta Kesari · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one left me with a strange sensation, a known but hard-to-accept realization. Different stories entangled with each other quite beautifully. However, there was one part that bored me; Naina's kitty-party gang and their conversations in restaurants(I skipped those conversations after finding they had nothing to offer). A good number of stories going in sequence, and then they started to collide, it was quite a task to relate who was who and the relationship that followed with the protagonist. But, overall I enjoyed the ride offered by Madhuri.

[Nutan Maheshwari · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Sometimes there is no logic to feelings, there are just right or wrong ones.”

Forbidden Desires by Madhuri Banerjee is a web of interwoven stories about couples who eventually fall out of love with their partners and begin extramarital affairs.

As much as I want to believe this happens in some corner of the world, I still feel alienated by the core concept of the book.

Is everything destined? Or is there some puppet master orchestrating this grand experiment of extramarital affairs?

[Book'd Hitu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect portrayal of pain and agony women go through while they manage their family and relationships.
A great entertaining read overall.

[Priyanka Lal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Speaks of the taboo topics beautifully written, characters interwoven to make you keep turning the pages.

[Mohit Sekhon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stories of frustrated wives/women. Nothing graphic.Could have been better if "sex" parts were made more graphic and colourful. Same old women's lovey-dovey bullshit.

[Mohamed Zaman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Four women and their internal struggles and claim for rights and independence.....

[Era · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review was first published at The Era I Lived In

The three married women who are tired of investing their time, love, care and endless efforts in pumping life into their monotonous married lives, finally find love outside their marriages. All of them are from the upper middle class section of Delhi. They come across as trying their best to give their dying marriages a fair chance to resuscitate for the sake of the archaic societal beliefs, the happy memories of the past and their children.

Provoked by their desires, incensed by the nonchalance and insensitivity of their spouses, these women seek love outside their marriages. The protagonists let go of the boundaries set by the society for married women, when the men are seldom questioned about their commitment or devotion towards their spouses. The beauty of the plot is that, in their pursuit for happiness, Naina, Ayesha, Kavita and Kaajal are allowed the freedom to choose their hearts over their minds. They are set free to satiate their desires and are not bound by the shackles of morality, duty or love.

While I appreciate the meticulous plotting of multiple parallel stories where the core theme is adultery, I must admit, it gets rather slow and repetitive towards the middle of the book when infidelity is subtly but surely glamorized. I applaud the author’s efforts in conveying a powerful message to women of the modern era to learn to follow their heart, choose what they desire against what the society dictates to them to in a fearless fashion. But, doing so by plunging in the deep, dark waters of an illicit love affair doesn’t appeal to me even in a book on fiction genre.

No doubt the book aims at women emancipation but the solution offered, isn’t an inspiring one. I congratulate the author on starting the dialogue on bisexuality and touching upon same-sex relationships, BDSM and live-in relationships while addressing the oft discussed ego clashes between spouses. The powerful message that women need to stop leading a suffocating life, be more vocal about their desires and learn to break social barriers is a great takeaway from this book.

The book has true-to-life characters. The realistic portrayal is the strength of this page-turner that won’t let you put it down once it picks pace when the lives of the protagonists intersect. I particularly loved the character of Kulwinder Kaur though Pinky was a dampener for me. However, I found the ending disappointing and forced.

In the quest of empowering the female leads and gifting the book a happy ending, the wrap up of this rather notty plot didn’t provide a few answers, especially in cases of Kaushik and Varun. The grammatical errors, though few but noticeable, warrant a careful editing of the book. The book does have the potential of being made into a Bollywood movie given thee fact that the author is a Bollywood screenplay writer.

The book makes for a breezy, romantic thriller that I feel would make a good travel companion for adult readers.

[Rakhi · Rating 3 out of 5]

My rating 3.5

Should I start with the technicalities or story? Well, the book is the story of four women who were stuck between families, commitments and desires forbidden by societal standards.

Authoress adapted vernacular and simple writing style even if the story line is quite complicated. This is an out and out urban Indian book with full on Indian flavour which is reflected in the Hinglish dialogues. Authoress succeeded in permeating the emotions to the readers. The story moves in a fast pace without any unnecessary lag. Characters are crafted well. Every character possesses individuality and conviction.

The suspense is another highlight. The secret of Kavitha and Kajal could not be guessed at any point till the authoress herself revealed it.

Notwithstanding the caliber and finesse of the writer, the whole idea of the story was indigestible for me. I don't opine that families should uphold values or pursue the relations no matter how far they fall apart. But a relation outside marital binding should be pursued only after separation. Hence I could not comprehend the whole idea of quenching the forbidden desires.

There were too many characters. Hence a character index should have been given in the beginning for the ease of following.

[Meenakshi J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Forbidden Desires’ is a story of four women in their 30s-Naina,Kavita, Ayesha and Kaajal. Each of them we read, going through their every day struggle of being born a ‘woman’ in this modern Indian Society which is ruthless and demanding, especially on Women –be it as an employee ,wife ,mother or an entrepreneur. Its a constant struggle to juggle through the various roles a woman plays in her life and these issues are very well depicted in this story. It is also this daunting expectation which makes the four female protagonists of this book to go through depression, isolation , a lack of self-esteem, identity crisis and finally explore their ‘Forbidden Desires’!
Rest of the review can be read on my blog ☺

[John Corlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

All women whatever the hardships they receive must follow their own path and their desires.
A short and a definitely engaging theme which makes the reader to turn the pages eagerly without missing a page. The characters in this book makes the theme to move in the correct manner and the author atlast wins the race with his efficient way to make the reader not to deviate from her book.
A book which is to be in your sure read category in this year's reading list.

[Aruna Kumar Gadepalli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story set in the backdrop of Delhi. women who seek to explore their life - independence and so on.

[Neera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting. "Marriage is the ultimate chastity belt".