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Nadine

By: Vimi Bajaj
Narrated by: Tania Rodrigues
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Publisher's summary

In this captivating debut story, a young woman in India about to plunge into an arranged marriage seeks the advice of an older friend - an eccentric expat who has led an unconventional life.

In a quiet suburb of New Delhi, two next-door neighbors develop a friendship: one, a young woman engaged to be married, and the other, Nadine: a woman in her 60s living with her second husband. We follow these two women through their phone calls and visits together, diving deeper into Nadine's storied past: With her larger-than-life personality and proclivity to defy society's conventions, her insight weighs heavily on her young friend, about to face a major turning point of her own.

Nadine is a poignant short story about the choices, big and small, that shape our lives.

©2021 Vimi Bajaj (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC.
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About the Creator

Vimi Bajaj is a writer based in Chicago. Her short story "Gauri and the Night-watchman" was shortlisted for The Bristol Short Story Prize in 2016 and published in their anthology. Her work has also been published in The Writer’s Chronicle, The Asian American Literary Review, The Doctor T.J. Eckleburg Review, and Panorama: the Journal of Intelligent Travel. She has an MFA from The Bennington Writing Seminars.

About the Performer

Actor and voice artist Tania Rodrigues has narrated many audiobooks, both fiction and non-fiction, by a range of illustrious and award-winning authors including Kiran Desai, Arundhati Roy, David Mitchell, Jeanette Winterson CBE, Tahmima Anam, and Sita Bhramachari. Her stage appearances include playing Emerald in Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and her many screen appearances include Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Rev, Doctors, Eastenders, and more.

What listeners say about Nadine

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

disappointing

Ramblings of selfish older woman dumped on younger woman. The more I learned about Nadine, the less I liked her. This book was not worth my time. I was hoping there would be some more focus on the woman into the thought process of a woman headed into arranged marriage. How would she overcome her fear about marrying a stranger? How would she know he was the one? I never got to know whether marriage happened or not. That was very annoying.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A glimpse of women's choices

We never know when someone will show up, share their life stories or secrets with us, change our perspective of something. I believe this short story reveals how these moments come and how it shapes one's believes little by little.

Not only that, it gives a glimpse of women (Nadine) who own the beliefs which are not quite the same as many women's think in the family life or themselves. In the story, Nadine's talk may lead her to critics from society, but with these worried and uncomfortable feelings, she still chooses to share thoughts to helping her much younger friend to make important choices in her life. This is a very important topic and still lots to talk about it even in 2021. I thank the author Vimi Bajaj who wrote this story and she did a good job.

(I'm not a native in the language of English, please ignore my grammar if it's not correct. )

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9 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Eh

The story was so-so and ended quite abruptly. There was also a point where prior sentences were repeated. Editing issue, perhaps? On the other hand, the narrator/reader was excellent.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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Wanted to Like It... Not Relatable or Likable

I wanted to like this short story but I couldn't relate to any character.

Feminism doesn't mean selfishness. I appreciate the sentiment of a older feminist mentoring a young newlywed, especially in a very traditional setting, however there is no real growth for either character..

Also, there was no movement in this story aside from the information Nadine reveals at the end. Unfortunately, I didn't care about the reveal because I had no investment in the story.

I will say that the narration is great!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Odd story

This was a short listen, with excellent narration...but the older woman teaching the younger woman had few lessons to teach that I found virtuous, uplifting, or hopeful. There was no swearing, sex, or violence for those concerned about such things.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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Writing was so confusing

The narrator does a wonderful job, but the structure of the story was so all over the place and confusing that I couldn’t even follow along. It sounded like a great story but I really wish it was written in a coherent way so I could understand what was going on.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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Pass

So basically the main character in the story hates man and thinks they’re trying to control women’s lives. The main character is extremely full of herself and abandon her two children and didn’t care what happened to them.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A long conversation

Our protagonist is about to embark on an arranged marriage when she connects with the eccentric Nadine, a woman who has lived a life so very different to what others expect. Short and sweet, they dive into her life and why she went down that path.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Like a New Yorker story

This fiction is direct and compelling due to narration and detail. Reminds me of My Dinner with Andre in the monologue for dialogue story way. So short! Wish there was more.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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worth the listen

I feel I learned something important by hearing this though I can't be specific as to what that is. perhaps I can sum it up by saying that I feel more open minded than before.

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