Review:- Hidden Husband by Shikha Kaul.

Hidden Husband

Publisher:- Gargi Publishers

Author:- Shikha Kaul

ISBN:- 9789384382070

My Review:-
There is a very famous poem in Urdu. I would like to quote a part of it here.
"Yeh Ishq Nahi Aasan
Bus Itna Samajh Lijiye
Aik Aag Ka Darya Hai Aur
Doob Kar Jana Hai"

This poem suits best on this story.
Here the novel "HIDDEN HUSBAND" written by Shikha Kaul and published by Gargi publishers introduces us to the protagnist, Aisha who is well-educated and independent to take a decision. She takes one such decision when she marries Raghav but she is forced to hide her marriage from the outside world, even from her parents. No, she has not done any wrong yet she cannot bring her relation out. This turns out to be an actual test for the couple. She performs all her duties of a good wife but it is not that can make or changes all the things in her favour. There are times when she is pressurised by her parents to marry, unknown of the fact of her marriage status. Thier decision of being together comes out to be a real test for both of them. Will they succeed and their love will sail along or will it end, seperating them forever. You'll have to read the novel to know all about it.

The authoress has very beautifully brought out several social issues like female foeticide, dowry, etc and she has showed and described it in a very good manner. One of the key thing which I liked is that the author succeeded in showing all the various social elements clearly and without mixing all of them.

One of the important thing struck  my mind was that why it is always felt that marrying someone outside the community or having a love marriage is seen as going against the family and culture. Is it so? Can't we marry a person whom we love and the only reason for it being that the other person belongs to some other community. Is our culture so narrow? Lord Krishna, whom we worship in our daily life married Radha because he loved her. Did he ask for her community before marriage? Then why do we restrict our children or oursleves? We must change our thoughts and work towards it for making this world a better place to live in.

The authoress has very beautifully portrayed all the characters. She very nicely intoduces us to the protagnist, Aisha taking us into her life and then bringing out the other characters at the right time. The authoress has divided the whole story into six parts and her smartness in this respect is commendable. All the parts takes us to the different parts of Aisha's life showing step by step how her life changes along with time. I personally think that the story slows down a bit in the middle but at the end the authoress picks up her pace ending it beautifully. The best suspense of the story is hidden at the end. I am not going to take it out but I have a question? Does such situation really come out? I can't predict about the probability of such situation in real life of a person but my personal view on it is that such situation seems good upto the novel but not in the real world.

The title "Hidden Husband" is catcy and attracts a reader as it raises many questions in the mind as soon as the title is read. The subtitle "Some secrets never leave you" adds some more, to the suspense that gets created by reading the novel's title. The cover too is appealing and suits the title showing that there are many things which are hidden and is needed to be opened for knowing all about it.
Overall the story is good with very nice characters and various messages which it gives out indirectly. It also raises and throws various questions to us which shall make us think as to where are we leading to, challenging our thoughts on various things. Overall it is a very good read and it shall be liked by all those who want love stories along with some social elements in it. Since the authoress hopes to continue her writing, I think she shall give out some of the best novels in the coming years and she shall be an authoress to be looked upon in coming days.

About the Book
Aisha is trapped in her own secret which makes her feel hell. Her love for Raghav is true. But hailing from two very different cultures is the basis of their continued friction. Aisha is a Punjabi girl from Gurgaon and Raghav a Bihari from Ranchi. Raghav’s family will certainly not accept a girl from outside their community. And yet, he continues giving her false hopes through his efforts and promises.And then they take step which entangles her life further.Will she manage to come out of this quandary or must she continue to live in her self-created web? Explore her journey that makes her realize the atrocities being committed on women in the Indian society and the tough decisions she must take, keeping her most loves one oblivious to everything happening in her life.

About the Author
Shikha Khanduja Kaul is an Indian author who was born in Amritsar, Punjab. Her family moved to Gurgaon in 1992 and she has seen the city grow from a small town to being the Millennium City of India. She completed her schooling from Gurgaon and later graduated with Honours in Physics from Sri Venkateshwara College, Delhi University. She holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration (HR) from Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning. She found her passion for writing not too long ago. Her debut fiction novel is a love-story with a touch of the realities prevailing in the Indian society that form the foundation of the biases against women for centuries. She hopes to come up at least one novel every year for as many years as she can. With the plethora of ideas that the author in her is eager to offer, she wishes her readers ‘Happy Reading’.
She can be connected with at:
Facebook:facebook.com/shikhakaulauthor
Twitter: @shikhakaul10
Email:shikha.kaul.author@gmail.com