My Last Love story

My Last Love story by Falguni Kothari         Audio Book: 10 hours, 1 min       Paperback Book:  304 pages                  

A very good story told in an exceptionally straightforward way.     Three friends from youth grow up together, have adventures together and love each other dearly.    Simi Desai is a very strong woman who does not let her 2 best friends out do her, she is always up for whatever the three concoct and on her 18^th birthday she wants a menage after giggling and shyness they go for it.   Later Simi marries her friend Nifron when he asks and the three are still so inseparable they all move in together.   This is a big no-no in their culture (they are all of East Indian extraction) and while the men do not get a lot of flack  about it, Simi is talked about by the men’s relatives as if she is a harlot.   O.K. they did all have that one fling when they were 18, but, now they are in their 30s and it has been totally platanic between them ever since except for Simi and Nifron of course.    Much happens and a tragedy from the past is brought out, a secret Simi has held forever, then, Nifron gets sick and is diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his brain.    He asks Simi to promise him she will learn to cuss because it is so invigorating and expressive and she has never been very good at it.    He also wants her to go on living and loving without him.   He requests that she have his baby by invitro (some of his sperm was frozen before he began the chemo treatments).   Nifron had wanted children but Simi didn’t so Nifron prompted her to get checked out and begin invitro treatments if necessary to become fertile as he wanted more than anything to have a child to carry on his memory.   Simi felt like it was her decision whether or not to have children and why would she want a baby if Nifron died?    He makes it one of his requests before his operation.   He also gives power of attorney over his medical state to their friend Zi to keep Simi from having to make any hard decisions.   He does not want to be kept alive on a ventilator and he does not want to be alive in a vegetative state and he makes Zi swear he will tell the doctors to turn off anything keeping him “alive” if he can never truly come back.   Zi promises he will tell the medical staff in that event.    More happens, Simi stops taking the invitro while Nifron is undergoing the surgery.   She tells Nifron no matter what she does not want to be with Zi.    But is that actually true?    Photos show the three look at each other with true love in their eyes.   Its complicated in some ways not so much in others.    Zi is always at hand to help in whatever capacity he is required.   More happens.   Simi tells Nifron she cannot be with Zi, that Nifron is her last love story there will be no more after him.   The surgery happens and so much more.    I don’t want to ruin the ending, this is such a good book, you will enjoy the humor, the friendships and family ties.    Love comes in all kinds of ways and some we have no clue as to why – an excellent read.    I thoroughly enjoyed it and all of the characters.    Well done Falguni Kothari.