Iona Sharma's Reviews > Baaz

I love all of Anuja Chauhan's books, picked this up shortly after it came out and put it down after one chapter in the mistaken belief that it was a Proper Serious Novel. It is not! It is another funny, warm book about another pair of star-crossed lovers: this time Shaanu, a Haryanvi village boy who's managed against all odds to become a fighter pilot in the IAF, and Tinka, who's a dedicated journalist, smart, privileged and pacifist. It's 1971, India and Pakistan are gearing up for war, which naturally leads to interpersonal conflict. Neither of them are right or wrong, most of the time, and their story is complicated without losing any of fun parts. As ever there is a large cast of hilarious and fleshed-out minor characters and a lot of wordplay. I enjoyed it a lot.

(NB. without spoiling it, it's about two people in love, but is definitely a war story rather than a genre romance.)