From Notting Hill with Love... Actually

 Author : Ali, McNamara

This book was a very quick read. As the title suggests, the book is all about finding love in true Hollywood style. The heroine, Scarlett O’Brien, is always day-dreaming about movies. She believes that her life is fabricated out of   different scenes from   different movies. She is unable to appreciate her steady relationship with her realistic and sensible boyfriend, David and craves for a short break from her current life to experience something extra-ordinary and explosive.

Her dear friend, Maddie, comes to her rescue. She gets an opportunity to fly to NottingHill, London, to house-sit for a couple who are on a month-long vacation. The famous quote from the Alchemist, “When you truly want something, the entire universe conspires to help you achieve it”, works like a charm for Scarlett. Once she steps into NottingHill, her life all of a sudden becomes like a movie set up. She is swarmed by new friends and well-wishers. Sparks fly between her and her neighbor next door, Sean. Life takes a dreamy turn. But even the movies have twists and turns, ups and downs. Scarlett’s adventures in NottingHill and the complications they entail, is the central part of this story.

 

Plotwise, this book has nothing new to offer. We have read many like this for years now. But what is unique about this book is the narration. Faithful to the title, the book is heavily influenced by scenes from the movies. The book borrows several dialogues and sequences from many movies, especially Pretty Woman, When Harry met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, An affair to remember and of course, NottingHill, to mention a few. It takes us on a nostalgic tour through all the movies which we had watched growing up, either in high school or in college. Though the plot is extremely silly and the heroine very annoying, I had a big smile on my face when I was reading this book only because of the movie references.

But my respect grew multi fold towards the author after I came to know that she suffers from chronic illness and more than one auto immune diseases. On good days, she can step out of the house with her crutches and on bad days, she is bed bound and cannot do anything. She says she never had a day when she felt completely well. For someone in her state, fantasizing a whirl-wind romance with her Mr Darcy , is more than acceptable. Creating such heartwarming, magical books and have so many best-sellers up her sleeve is truly commendable.

I would definitely recommend this book, more for the creator, than the creation itself.  

Rating: 👍👍👍👍

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