The House that BJ Built by Anuja Chauhan

Title: The House that BJ Built

Author: Anuja Chauhan

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐3/4

Type: Standalone

Genre: Indian Humor

Narration Style: Not sure – may be limited third person

Primary Characters: Bonu Singh, Samar

Secondary Characters: Anjani, Chandu, Debjani, Eshwari, BJ, Staeesh, Zeeshan

Source: Free in KU

This is my first Anuja Chauhan book. I heard about her in one of the Author interviews. I picked this book as it came up several times under Indian Humor recommendation books. Honestly it took some time to catch up with writing style and type. I realized after reading first few chapter that this is more of Hinglish (Hindi Mixed English). Humor in Hinglish form is at its best, she has replicated the words, slang and sentences several times so well. Some words are -Ekchully, meenupause, Septick, Pushkar –Push- kar, Living girlfriend, “You vant Tea”, Fillums, Happytiteties B, Phusss Balloon.

“While your boss is such a harami his make-up van is called make-out van”

It’s a story about Bonu Singh who stays in her Grandfather’s house in Hailey road. As blurb says – Bollywood director Samar Vir Singh, who promised BJ upon his deathbed that he would get the house sold, divvy the money equally and end all the bickering within the family. Bonu doesn’t want to sell her portion, however she has to deal with 4 alphabetically named daughters of BJ. Her Aunt’s Anjani, Chandu, Dabbu and Eshwari are nosey and pushy. While the central plot deals with selling the house, there are parallel storylines involving the secondary characters.

Plot covers from principles of independent entrepreneur, vacating a tenant from your house to shooting and bollywood item song. Plot was good, not anything extraordinary but enjoyable. All aunt’s are different yet felt similar in several ways. You cant just stop yourself from loving Anjani, Dabbu and Eshwari. Sateesh, Samar, Dylan, Zeeshan were equally lovely.

What I didn’t like: I personally felt plot dragged too much than necessary. At several points plot got sidetracked and focused on several other things. Bickering between sisters were hilarious at several times and it became too much to tolerate at several other points.

It was a roller-coaster of family drama, several love stories along with laughter packets. Humor is the best element of this book for people who understand Hinglish. It’s also a fun read that will leave you with a big smile on your face.