Thank you to Net Galley and Unbound Firsts for the ARC. This is different from my usual read, but I liked reading about the different characters lives. This book is a more a character study and I enjoyed reading about their lives and how they intersect, and the decisions they end up making by the end of the novel.

Nidhi Arora’s beautifully written debut novel tells the story of several families in the fictional Indian neighbourhood of Shantinagar. In the first chapter, we are introduced to the Kapoor family dynamic through the simple (or perhaps not so simple!) act of making chai. Over the coming chapters, the author naturally weaves through a sense of community, and as the reader, we come to learn the connections between all of the characters. The cast are all lovable in their own ways, and it’s clear that they are each trying to do what’s best for their families, even though it doesn’t always work out as they intend.

I loved how quantum physics was used to explain the personal relationships between the characters. It was such a unique way for Sumi to experience the world, and not one I’ve come across in a novel before.

This is a warm, wholesome read that I highly recommend. It is a lovely exploration of family and personal connection.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

I have many bookshelves filled with novels set in India. I've been reading about the country for 30 years but I can almost always find something new.

Of course, I requested The Lights of Shantinagar. I enjoyed the small details of family life but there came a point when I realised that there were a lot of characters with similar names, and not very much was actually happening.

It's more like tapas than a full meal. Little bits and pieces of delicious observation, but by the end, I was still hungry for something to get my teeth into.

Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for my copy.

"They were a ruin of a garden, no doubt, but the garden nonetheless" (c)

"The Lights of Shantinagar" is a very eventful and emotional family drama set in modern India. Thankful for this book showing me Indian culture and Indian people with all of its tender, delicious and unforgettable moments. With its multiple characters and a lot of unanswered questions, while I enjoyed it a lot, I would've appreciated getting more from some of the issues portrayed in the book.

Three sisters were probably my favorite characters. Their storyline seemed the most relatable and conflict the most compelling. The wedding chapters and the aftermath were heartbreaking but so, so bittersweet to witness.

P.s. The mention of Eclairs toffee brought me to my childhood. I need to find those candies NOW!

3.5 stars from me
Thank you NetGalley and Unbound for this ARC.

An enjoyable read. Set in India, the book focuses on the lives of a small group of neighbours in the village of Shantinagar.. Hopes and dreams are explored in a tender and understanding way, as are petty thefts and rivalries.

The author made the characters believable and likeable. There isn't a strong plot, but the story draws you in and you want to find out what happens to all the characters. It's written with great warmth for the neighbours and their village living.

I enjoyed this story from start to end, and I think it's quite an achievement for a new author to write a book that is so easily readable.

I'm looking forward to her next book!

Loved The Lights of shantinagar. The main protagonists and the side characters are really well fleshed out. The story is wholesome and feel good. I will definitely recommend this to anyone who want so read a good book.

I really liked this book! I liked the themes of womanhood, sisterhood, family, learning, and education, and growth. It was a well written story and I enjoyed the storyline. I think it was a feel good story even though there were some uncomfortable moments

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

What an interesting read. When the lights go out, change happens to the families involved in the story. I think this book does a great job capturing the charm of close nit ties between families and their dynamics. This book gave me interesting insights into culture that I didn’t think about before. Overall, this book was unique and left me pleased about this read. I could see myself picking this book up at a bookstore and wanting to snag it for myself. I hope this book gets picked up by video media because I think it would be fantastic as a tv series or a movie.

This book is a real accomplishment, especially for a debut novel. It’s an intricate, delicate study of the intertwining lives of three families living next to each other in a modern Indian middle-class suburb, and I enjoyed every page. The author has a real gift for drawing up characters that are complex, nuanced and realistic. I usually prefer the stories I read to be a little more plot-heavy than this is, yet I was never bored or tempted to put the book down. The writing is engaging and compelling throughout, and it’s a real testament to the skill of the author that the little twists and turns of domestic life made me gasp out loud. A thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable read. 4.5 stars.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.
The Lights of Shantinagar by Nidhi Arora is a captivating and thought-provoking novel that delves into the complexities of small-town life in India. The story is rich with vivid descriptions and insightful character development, offering readers a glimpse into the lives of people navigating love, dreams, and struggles. Arora’s writing effortlessly captures the essence of human emotions and the delicate balance between tradition and change. The narrative is both heartwarming and poignant, making it a compelling read for anyone who enjoys contemporary fiction with deep social and cultural layers. Overall, The Lights of Shantinagar is an engaging story that leaves a lasting impact.

A sweet book about the complexities of families, especially families who live together in multi generational spaces.

4.5 ⭐️

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for an ARC of this book!

The lights of shantinagar is a beautifully written, touching story of a colony of residents in India in the 90’s. This book is one of those books that are so charming in their simplicity, and that stays with you.

The story follows multiple members of the Kapoor family, especially newly married Sumi who is a unique combination of physicist and philosopher. I really enjoyed how the author embedded quantum physics in to the daily philosophical musings of the characters’ lives. It was fast paced, well written, and had a cast of complex characters.

This book got me out of my reading slump and left me feel so light.

My favourite quotes:

“What is this “I”? It is just the canvas on which data (experiences and memories) are collected…And even if a skilled hypnotist succeeded in blotting out entirely all your earlier reminiscences, you would not find that he had killed you. In no case if there a loss of personal existence to deplore. Nor will there ever be.”

“There’s no meaning in why things happen. ‘Meaning’ is not something that sits hidden in the real world, waiting to be found. It is what we, as observers, choose to superimpose on things.”

I can’t wait to add this to my physically collection when it’s out.

#NetGalley #TheLightsofShantinagar

Sumi and her father have always been a team. They are the ones in pursuit of facts, of equations that will inevitably make sense. In their world, everything is a binary. Everything is divided into black and white. Sumi's mother and Gyan, Sumi's brother are the variables in their full-proof equation. But things take a turn when Sumi is married to Dev and she comes to Shantinagar where nothing really is black and white anymore. There are more greys in that space than she has ever had to encounter in her previous life.

With her increasing distance from her father who embarks on a journey of his own to find the truth after a close brush with mortality, Sumi also has to learn to find her own way through life and her own philosophy with which she wants to encounter those around her.

In Shantinagar, lights in two houses keep flickering, communicating with each other in their own way, a mother shows the utmost daring even though that courage is what has always alienated her from most, a father returns for a daughter who might not be his but occupies the largest part in his heart, a family tackles fissures and problems in their own ways, theft takes place that you ultimately can't hold one accountable for, and mostly warmth and consideration and care hold the people's hearts together.

It is the story of a small town and of people with large, intricately woven lives full of ambiguity. It's about learning to accept the liminal zones that most of us inhabit, and the emotions that can't always be classified into folders. It's about Sumi learning to stand on her own, yet accept the help that her close ones so readily offer her. It's about physics and domesticity and about life that transcends both.

The Lights of Shantinagar by Nidhi Arora tells the story of Sumi, an aspiring quantum physics PhD candidate, newly married into the Kapoor family. Set in the early '90s, the book explores the dynamics within the Kapoor family and their interactions with Sumi. The characters are vividly portrayed, from her loving husband, Dev, to her dramatic sister-in-law, Mahima. Arora beautifully blends quantum physics with everyday life, making the subject accessible and engaging. The relationships, especially with Sumi’s father-in-law and brother, are heartwarming. While the story leaves a few unresolved threads, it remains a delightful and timeless exploration of ambition, family, and love.

Nidhi Arora’s forthcoming debut novel is a pleasant surprise. It took me just two days of my weekend to get fully invested in this beautiful piece of fiction and devour it to fulfil my reading appetite.

Thanks, Nidhi, for writing this book, and also congratulations. I’m looking forward to seeing how this book is received by the Indian readers when it gets published this summer.

All said and done, the characters depicted in Kapoor, Bansal, and Maya’s families in this novel were the ones that we can very much relate to in the current scenario about our loved ones, kith and kin, friends, and well-wishers.

The story takes place in Shantinagar, a fictional north Indian town, I guess, maybe in the state of Uttar Pradesh (I’m not sure).

There are three families, and Kapoor’s is a larger one, a joint family—peculiar in this day and age but still pretty much believable.
House No 1: Mr and Mrs Kapoor have three sons (Om, Dev, Vivek), two of them are married (one newlywed), and the last son is a college-goer who lives in a hostel in another far-off town.

The daughters-in-law (Mahima and Sumi), one a housewife and the other a studious girl who works in a local school, are as regular and relatable as anyone you see in your neighbourhood: jealous, loving, motherly, ambitious yet boring and simple.

House No 2: Then comes the Bansal family—father, mother, and son. Dhruv is average at studies as he is preparing for his board exams, even though he knows that his father has one of the biggest supermarkets in the town and would be the owner of the store in the future.

House No 7: My favourite characters live in this house. All are women. Three daughters (Neeti, Nalini, Naina), one born out of wedlock, and their mother, Maya—the best character, according to me, who is a mystery wrapped with strength, courage, and boldness—a modern-day single mother who does anything for her daughters.

And then, there is Pushpa (help), who works in Kapoor house, and her dhobiwallah husband, her son Chottu, and dog Sheru.
Then there are Sumi’s parents and her brother, Gyan. This is an academic family who discuss topics ranging from quantum physics to abstract philosophy to whatnot as a day-to-day dining table conversation.

What happens when the lights go off in one of the rooms of house nos 1, 2, and 7, and what consequences does it bring and change the lives of the families form the rest of the story. Who are the affected members? Who is the schemer, and what is their motive? (warning: not a sleuth story)

Rumours, mystery, disappointments, love, hatred, success and other emotions form part of this story, yet you can see the small-town charm, the bonding between the families, the amicability between the characters, and the youthful exuberance and wittiness in the form of Naina (another favourite character).

I wish I could delve deep into each and every character and read their mind and decipher their intentions. As a reader, you will do that, as I did, when the book releases in September in India.

I read this novel like watching a small-budget, well-made Hindi heartland movie with Gajraj Rao, Neena Gupta, Yami Gautam, and Rajkummar Rao. I hope this is made into a movie or a series.

Overall, this book has captured my reading attention as it is original, authentic, and illuminating with desi flavours even though the author leaves somewhere in Europe, I think.

Already my best read of 2025. I hope you guys will enjoy it too.

The Lights of Shantinagar by Nidhi Arora was an interesting read. I think readers will enjoy it. Watch for this one on pub day.

The Lights of Shantinagar by Nidhi Arora is a delightful story about the lives of residents of Shantinagar colony. Though it is mainly focused on Sumi , an aspiring quantum physics PhD candidate who is newly married into a Shantinagar family, it focuses equally on the Kapoor family members - Sumi's in laws.
It's a story based in early 90's and touches on the dreams and drama in the ordinary lives of ordinary citizens of Shantinagar.
The cast of characters included: Sumi, then her supportive and smitten husband Dev, the brash and loud personality of her older brother in law Om, his insecure but dramatic wife Mahima, and her kind, loving and very supportive in laws Mr. And Mrs. Kapoor, Sumi's own parents and brother; and neighbors Maya and her 3 daughters, house help Pushpa, her son and a lovable dog Sheru!
I just loved how well Nidhi Arora has woven quantum physics in the daily life and drama happening in Sumi's new life. And my favorite was Sumi's relationship with her brother and her father in law, these are such precious relationships and Nidhi Arora has portrayed them with playfulness and respect required for each of them, without it getting annoying or obsequious.
My only issue was I had hoped she would have shown some closure regarding Sumi and Mahima's complicated sisters in law relationship, and also a closure regarding the theft.
Nevertheless this is a simple, delightful story with lessons that are timeless doesn't matter which era it is based in.

We will not be reviewing this because we cannot easily read and review this file. The new format on Netgalley is a nightmare for serious reviewers like All About Romance. I worry that this new format will hurt all but the most famous of authors.