-Life is full of ups and downs, twists and turns, different perceptions of the same event by different people. All it takes is a chance encounter, a vivid recollection, a combination of funny and tragic episodes to deepen our character and put us in touch with our innermost feelings. Hassles and hope go together like bread and butter.
Everyone has problems, but there are always solutions.
One sunny day in August, Don is prepared to end it all, but someone stops him...
That "someone" is Debs. A beautiful, young woman, whose mission in life is to help people. Debs works as a counsellor, which is how she encounters Maxim and Rose. Maxim is obsessed with two things - herself and sex! However, Rose is a very different sort of person. She is an intelligent girl who must deal with hardships that most other people cannot even contemplate. Rose is determined to rid herself of her past and carve out a new and promising life. And, if this novel has a heroine, Rose is her.
The brief encounters of these four people with one another have profound consequences. Without even realising it, they will completely change the course of each other's lives...
Excerpt
Florida is hot, hot, hot in August. Ms Curry was soaking up the sun, applying sun tan lotion all over her - nose, forehead, cheeks, shoulders, arms, chest, knees and feet. She was fixing the top half of her bikini when the waiter came.
'Would you like another martini, Madam?'
Ms Curry took in his fit physique and wished herself a few years younger. He exuded charm and panache.
'Oh, I don't mind if I do.'
The man responded obediently, carrying his tray of empty glasses to the bar.
'What a life!' she said.
Ms Curry never had it so good. A forty-something (one has to be diplomatic about a lady's age), single-minded career woman, with disposable income, and free as the wind. It was the start of her summer holidays after a long, busy year at Bonding Community College, Belfast. The place would manage, she felt sure, without her for six weeks. Everything was in place as it should be - people, money, buildings. Rest was important. So was play. And the sex therapy sessions she had instigated a few weeks ago had been most helpful.
'Your martini, madam, with ice.'
'Thank you.'
The twenty dollar bill she waved at him more than paid for the drink.
'Keep the change.'
The tip was very generous.
Professional Reviews
Spinetinglers.net
'Hassles and Hope is a drama about life - your life, my life, everyone's life.'
Sharon Owens
'A lovely read.'
Writer's Digest
'There was much to like about this book, which I thoroughly enjoyed. _ _ I enjoyed meeting the characters and following them through their life adventures. Don was a likeable non-hero. What I mean is, he was heroic in his everyday life rather than saving the world from famine or alien invaders, Don was a delightful man with a good sense of humour that flourished despite his depression _ _. Debs is an interesting component of the book and with her granny, add dimension to the plot.'
In this eccentric tale set in a small town in northern India, Pawan Mishra masterfully weaves ingenuity and sarcasm in a manner that’s simultaneously hilarious and tragic.
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