The Other Man

By: Farhad J. Dadyburjor

Narrated by: Ariyan Kassam

Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

A heartwarming and transporting romantic comedy about finding happy ever after on your own terms.

Heir to his father’s Mumbai business empire, Ved Mehra has money, looks, and status. He is also living as a closeted gay man. Thirty-eight, lonely, still reeling from a breakup, and under pressure from his exasperated mother, Ved agrees to an arranged marriage. He regrettably now faces a doomed future with the perfectly lovely Disha Kapoor.

Then Ved’s world is turned upside down when he meets Carlos Silva, an American on a business trip in India.

As preparations for his wedding get into full swing, Ved finds himself drawn into a relationship he could never have imagined - and ready to take a bold step. Ved is ready to embrace who he is and declare his true feelings regardless of family expectations and staunch traditions. But with his engagement party just days away, and with so much at risk, Ved will have to fight for what he wants - if it’s not too late to get it.

©2021 Farhad J. Dadyburjor. (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Ved’s listlessness and indecision is understandable, which speaks to how sympathetic and well developed a character he is…the book’s lightning quick pace, charming dialogue, and vibrant portrayal of Mumbai are more than enough to keep readers invested until the cathartic and uplifting final act.”—Booklist

“Farhad J. Dadyburjor’s The Other Man is all about living the life you want, not the one that is expected of you. At 38, Ved Mehra is the heir of a Mumbai business empire, who seems to be living a charmed life. But what his family doesn’t know is that he’s gay, and although he has finally agreed to an arranged marriage, he has also found the man of his dreams.”—POPSUGAR

Sentimental and predictable

Although I feel for the protagonist and believe the story is an important one, I was annoyed by the stereotyped characters and very predictable narrative. Overbearing Indian Mom and Optimistic American Hottie were especially egregious. Also, Ved needed a good kick in the pants. Overall, a frustrating listen because it could have been so much better.

Fantastic novel, fantastic narrator

"The Other Man" is refreshing, funny, lovely, sweet, romantic, and a little frustrating (in the best way). We follow Ved, a gay man living in Mumbai, through his mother's well-meaning but misguided attempt to marry him off to the beautiful and wealthy Disha. Midway through the preparations for the wedding, he meets Carlos, a well-traveled American who is in India on business. Ved is instantly smitten, but has trouble--quite a bit of trouble--coming clean to Disha and his parents. The novel is in third person and is written entirely from Ved's point of view, which I personally find refreshing (POV switches have a tendency to be clumsy and fanfictionesque). This does not mean, however, that the other characters are not fleshed out; Disha, Carlos, and Ved's parents are all fully-realized human beings with realistic motivations and reactions. They are also, for the most part, genuinely good people (Ved's mother got on my nerves a bit), though this doesn't mean there is no conflict between them. Ved in particular, though I loved him, made some bad decisions, as all good protagonists must, but his motivations were clear and sympathetic. Ariyan Kassam's narration is, quite simply, one of the best narrations I have ever heard. His natural speaking voice (or the non-dialogue narration, anyway) is pleasant and masculine, with a lovely lilting quality to it. His character voices are all distinct, including the women. Some male narrators use one voice for all female characters, but I could easily tell Disha from Ved's mother. He also seems to be a master of accents, and not only for the Indian characters--the American accent he uses for Carlos is flawless. What's more, his acting is wonderful, and his sense of comic timing for the humorous parts is perfect. I can't praise the narrator enough. This novel is fun, dramatic, not too angsty, and well written. It is set against the backdrop of the repeal of the law criminalizing homosexuality, though it's also refreshingly free of politics. If I absolutely had to name a criticism, I'd say the ending felt a bit rushed, though it was still good. One of the easiest and most obvious five star reviews I've ever given.

Good story

I really enjoyed this story. It’s interesting to see different cultural expectations and then to apply the circumstances to yourself.
The narrator was great. I loved listening to the main character’s mother.

Great narration, refreshing setting, so-so story

The narration was wonderful. The narrator did an excellent job of managing a variety of genders, ages, and accents, infusing each character with life.

I appreciated having a gay romance set in India. It's a nice change from the usual settings of North America and Western Europe. I got a sense of the culture, although the author underestimates how much Western readers know about Indian culture (or at least Indian food). Seriously, we know what chai is (and so would Carlos).

Unfortunately, I had problems with the story. Ved comes off as much younger than 38. I understand the cultural and legal issues he's facing, but after a while, it got really old listening to him complain about how guilty he felt while still continuing to lie to people he claimed to love. It takes 64 chapters for him to finally begin to do the right thing. Also, the romance just doesn't work well. I can't see what makes Ved and Carlos fall for each other. Maybe that's partly because we don't actually see that much of them together--we spend a lot more time with Ved and Disha, in fact. And things wrap up too easily. All the worries that Ved has been facing for 64 chapters instantly evaporate.

Finally, this book needed more judicious editing, both for length and for word repetition, The repetition is particularly noticeable when listening to an audiobook.

It is refreshing to have a gay romance in this setting, and the narration is great, so the book is worth listening to for those reasons. I just wish the story had been better.

GOOD!!

This is a very heartwarming story with excellent narration. Yes, I really enjoyed listening to the narrator! The story is bittersweet and filled with enough tension to keep the listener wondering what was going to happen next, and how things would ultimately end up.

To summarize, a very enjoyable story, definitely worth a listen! ☺️

Cute rom-com

It was interesting having a coming out story with an adult MC. As someone who also didn’t come out of the closet until I was an adult I could relate often to his internal struggles. But mostly this is a light hearted romance that I very much enjoyed my time with.

Best narrator I’ve ever heard

The story is interesting because of the Indian experience and cultural insights. The description of the book essential gives away the entire plot, so no surprises, but a good listen. The narrator is incredible. Switching between multiple accents and personalities is the best and most engaging I’ve ever heard.

Too long, too much whining

I really wanted to like this story, and I did, at first. But with each repetitious, whiny interior monologue, or long exposition in the middle of a "live" conversation, I just became more annoyed. This should have been a novella, at best; save the descriptions of the city and the food, drop the whining. Ved would have been more likeable with less whining. I don't discount his fears, and I am aware of the cultural pressure he lived with. I just got tired of being beat over the head with it, listening to him whine about it.

On the plus side, Mr Kassan, the reader, was excellent. His accents were perfect, and few male readers make females characters sound so natural. Well done on his part.

Amazing

This is a wonderful glimpse into the struggle of coming out and cultural change. Ved, a closeted gay man was blindsided when his boyfriend of four years announced they needed to breakup because he would be marrying woman. Broken hearted, Ved goes on to build a wall around his heart refusing to let anyone else in. He engages in no string attached sex with men he meets through a hook up app.

Getting his heart broken is both the only thing he is avoiding. Ved’s mother is on a serious mission to get him married and he is equally serious about avoiding that prospect. But it seems he may not be able to avoid it forever. During one of her calls, Ved’s mother announces she has the perfect wealthy young India girl. After putting her off for a while, Ved gives in and goes on a date with Disha completely expecting it to be a disaster and making a mental plan to tell his mother it did not work out. What he didn’t anticipate was the extent to which he would enjoy Disha’s company or that they would develop a true friendship. Because of this friendship, both Ved and Disha mutually resigned themselves to marry each other to please their parents and as the lesser of many evils. Just when Ved decides to bite the bullet, he meets Carlos, the perfect man who shows up at the exact wrong moment.

I really enjoyed the narration on audible and the story itself. I appreciate the way the author depicts Ved’s struggle to please his parents and build a relationship with Carlos, while preserving his friendship with Disha.

Good storyline, wonderful world building, strong characters and an epic HEA!

Interesting

Not my cup of tea, I lead a totally different lifestyle, but a well told gay lifestyle story .