Nadine

By: Vimi Bajaj

Narrated by: Tania Rodrigues

Length: 51 mins

Publisher's summary

In this captivating debut story, a young woman in India about to plunge into an arranged marriage seeks the advice of an older friend - an eccentric expat who has led an unconventional life.

In a quiet suburb of New Delhi, two next-door neighbors develop a friendship: one, a young woman engaged to be married, and the other, Nadine: a woman in her 60s living with her second husband. We follow these two women through their phone calls and visits together, diving deeper into Nadine's storied past: With her larger-than-life personality and proclivity to defy society's conventions, her insight weighs heavily on her young friend, about to face a major turning point of her own. 

Nadine is a poignant short story about the choices, big and small, that shape our lives.

©2021 Vimi Bajaj (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC.

disappointing

Ramblings of selfish older woman dumped on younger woman. The more I learned about Nadine, the less I liked her. This book was not worth my time. I was hoping there would be some more focus on the woman into the thought process of a woman headed into arranged marriage. How would she overcome her fear about marrying a stranger? How would she know he was the one? I never got to know whether marriage happened or not. That was very annoying.

A glimpse of women's choices

We never know when someone will show up, share their life stories or secrets with us, change our perspective of something. I believe this short story reveals how these moments come and how it shapes one's believes little by little.

Not only that, it gives a glimpse of women (Nadine) who own the beliefs which are not quite the same as many women's think in the family life or themselves. In the story, Nadine's talk may lead her to critics from society, but with these worried and uncomfortable feelings, she still chooses to share thoughts to helping her much younger friend to make important choices in her life. This is a very important topic and still lots to talk about it even in 2021. I thank the author Vimi Bajaj who wrote this story and she did a good job.

(I'm not a native in the language of English, please ignore my grammar if it's not correct. )

Eh

The story was so-so and ended quite abruptly. There was also a point where prior sentences were repeated. Editing issue, perhaps? On the other hand, the narrator/reader was excellent.

Pass

So basically the main character in the story hates man and thinks they’re trying to control women’s lives. The main character is extremely full of herself and abandon her two children and didn’t care what happened to them.

Wanted to Like It... Not Relatable or Likable

I wanted to like this short story but I couldn't relate to any character.

Feminism doesn't mean selfishness. I appreciate the sentiment of a older feminist mentoring a young newlywed, especially in a very traditional setting, however there is no real growth for either character..

Also, there was no movement in this story aside from the information Nadine reveals at the end. Unfortunately, I didn't care about the reveal because I had no investment in the story.

I will say that the narration is great!

Odd story

This was a short listen, with excellent narration...but the older woman teaching the younger woman had few lessons to teach that I found virtuous, uplifting, or hopeful. There was no swearing, sex, or violence for those concerned about such things.

Writing was so confusing

The narrator does a wonderful job, but the structure of the story was so all over the place and confusing that I couldn’t even follow along. It sounded like a great story but I really wish it was written in a coherent way so I could understand what was going on.

Like a New Yorker story

This fiction is direct and compelling due to narration and detail. Reminds me of My Dinner with Andre in the monologue for dialogue story way. So short! Wish there was more.

worth the listen

I feel I learned something important by hearing this though I can't be specific as to what that is. perhaps I can sum it up by saying that I feel more open minded than before.

Invites self reflection

While listening to Nadine I heard myself, and yet I felt I was supposed to be judging her. I will be listening again to see if I can sort through my own thoughts. I strongly recommend this book if you are open to evaluating your own judgements and thinking about where they come from.