Meantime Girl

A novella written with such feeling. A young woman enchanted with the relationship she has with a married man. She is willing to give up everything, her friends, job, and even relocate to a new place. All of this for her lover whom only comes to see her when it is convenient for him. What is he willing to sacrifice for her? Will he happily give up everything as she did?
Very well written, entertaining. 5 Stars

Errata:
"Anjali blinked, allowing a sigh wander past her sneer" should read "...allowing a sigh to wander past..."
"The entire blame will to be on you" should lose the 'to' and read, "The entire blame will be on you"
The 'to' from the previous example belongs here between 'gotten' and 'her'!"The arrogance of Siddharth’s editor had gotten her"
"got along famously well with her son’s wife, and kids, than with her own daughter." should read "...better than she did with her own daughter."
"Her fingers, creased from the bath, slipped grandma in her musings."? "...reminded her of grandma's fingers..." maybe?
There's an odd speech quote at the end of stifling unease.” which should not be there.
There's an entire paragraph repeated. It begins, "When the first bell sounded minutes later, Anjali stood in the orientation hall..."
"Lunch chocked her" should be "Lunch choked her".
This is a novella which started life as a novel. Where the rest of it went, I don't know, but I think the author was smart to précis it. It would have been a bit of a trial to read a full-length novel in this style. Written in 2012, this novel by an Indian author and set in India, tells the story of a doomed love affair between the young, rather impetuous Anjali and the older, married Sidharth, who is frankly not worthy of her. It takes her a long time to realize it. The novel is very widely spaced between paragraphs, so it's actually even shorter than you might think from the page count.

The story read more like a poem than a prose novel and it was charming. English isn't the author's first language, and it shows in the way this is phrased, making for writing that is by turns endearing and confusing! The more I read though, the more I got into the rhyme and reason of it, and I found it to be quite exhilarating and really warmed to it, especially after I'd read the ending. I don't know if I really liked either of the main characters. Sidharth definitely not, but at least Anjali wised-up and took charge, and began to take serious responsibility for the way her life had gone, and that made it worth while for me.

In addition to the sometimes amusing phraseology, there were some intentional moments of real fun, such as this part:
"What can I do? God’s will,” the maid said picking up the laundry basket.
“Did you hear that, Anju? She just called a prick God.”
I laughed out loud at that one.
Overall I think this was a worthy read and I ended up liking the story. I have a soft spot for India though, so your mileage might well differ!

Meantime Girl by Sindhu S is a story about a young woman who thought she had her relationship all figured out. Until she learned that the relationship was not what she wanted in life. Anjali is a writer in India who has a relationship with a married man, Siddharth “Sid.” Despite her friends’ objections, she carries on their hidden love affair. She has convinced herself that she didn’t want a commitment, she wanted to be as sexually free as men were. As Anjali travels through India, writing her book and visiting various temples, she begins to grow increasingly aware that something is just not right. Will she be able to end her relationship with Sid? Will she continue the relationship, knowing she will always be the meantime girl?
Meantime Girl is an interesting story. A story about love and modern relationships. A story about the confusion and turmoil over a relationship that should not be. A story of a man who seduces a woman into the thrill of a secret relationship. I loved Anjali as she is a strong, independent and modern woman who thought she wanted a no-strings attached relationship until she realizes that there is a pattern of behavior she wasn’t aware of. I recommend Meantime Girl as a modern love story with a twist.