Soldier & Spice

Title: Soldier soldier& Spice : An Army Wife’s Life
Author: Aditi Mathur Kumar
Publisher: Westland Books
ISBN: 978-93-83260-02-7
Number of Pages: 253
Price [INR] : 250
Genre: Fiction

From the Blurb

For Pia, regular life is a thing of the past. She is now an Army wife. From ‘just Pia’ to an Aunty, a memsaab and – her favourite words in the whole wide world – Mrs Pia Arjun Mehra.

At twenty six, Pia finds herself having to suddenly be more ‘lady-like’; focus on themed ladies’ meets, high teas and welfare functions; and deal with long (unexpected) separations from her husband, extraordinary challenges, a little heartache, and, well, growing up.

In the mysterious and grand world of Army wives, Pia learns that walking in high heels is okay as long as you don’t trip on combat boots. She learns that ‘civil’ is also a noun, that JCO and GOC are (very!) different, that snacks are ‘shown’ and WTF is better explained as Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. Yes, it really is a new world!

Let this quirky, hilarious story of the first year of Pia’s Army-wife life show you that the spice to a soldier’s life is most definitely his better, very strong, bloody extremely elegant, never-cussing, witty, warm and passionate half, his Army wife.

Review

There is nobody from our family in the forces. Having read and heard so much about the glamour, the smart men, the elegant women, the party culture, the travels and the adventures in the lives of families from the armed forces, I have always been in awe of this ‘different’ world. When I read about the promos of this book, I knew, that I had to read this book. When Manjulika from Writer’s Melon hosted a give-away of this book, I decided to go for it!

I finished reading this book in 2 sittings and the second one was when I was having a throbbing headache!! When the body was screaming silently to put the book down and rest for a while, the heart didn’t want to forego the joy it was getting from the constant dose of laughs and smiles along with the wit and humour. And that happened because, Soldier and Spice : An Army Wife’s Life, is a book that is high on laughs, chuckles and entertainment!

Soldier and Spice is a refreshing read which showcases the life of Pia, a newly-wed Army wife. It is a humorous take on Pia’s first year as an Army wife and through her we get a complete insight into the life of an Army wife. It is truly not easy being an Army wife. Army has a rich culture and the Army wives have a big role to play. They also have to follow the protocol, the hierarchy and ranks, have a hectic social life and have to follow elegance, grace and etiquette all the time!! The army lingo and phrases are super interesting, especially the Forced Bachelor, Separated Family and the usage of the word ‘Civil’ as a noun, adjective and abuse. I liked the ‘show the snacks’ the most, though.

The author has shared the pros and cons of being an Army wife very astutely. When I read this, “An Army wife is a single mother even when she is married, she is the saree-clad maverick who manages the show single handedly with family and house when the husband is busy saving the country, and she is the stylish woman who smiles and winks through a heap of problems that her civilian friends would never understand. An Army wife is probably the only woman in the world who knows and accepts readily that she is the mistress, because, let’s face it, the Army is the wife and the the wife gets all the damn attention!”…, my awe and respect quotient increased manifold for the Army wives!

There isn’t a single dull moment in the book. With its good pace, quick wit and humour and honest writing, Soldier & Spice is definitely a must read chick-lit!

Go for it!

Rating : [usr 4 text=”false” size=20]