Publishers Weekly
02/27/2023
Ramisetti (Dava Shastri’s Last Day) chronicles in this astute outing the whirlwind marriage of an aspiring screenwriter to an older, thrice-divorced Hollywood legend. Advika tends bar at an afterparty for the Oscars, where she hits it off with producer Julian Zelding. Three months later they’re married, and things get weird. First, one of Julian’s ex-wives, actor Evie Lockhart, promises to give Advika $1 million if she divorces Julian. Advika, meanwhile, is still grieving her twin, Anu, who died in an accident two years earlier, and whose cynical views on marriage echo in Advika’s head as she learns more about Julian’s previous wives, including a songwriter named Nova, whose name Julian once cried out during sex, and whose career he tried to control after they were married. As Advika grows increasingly suspicious of an ever-more manipulative Julian, she shoulders disapproval from her meddling if well-meaning parents, who moved back to India after Anu’s death. The author nails the Hollywood milieu and offers an incisive portrait of Julian, a powerful man who feels compelled to control the women in his life. This is a winner. Agent: Andrea Somberg, Harvey Klinger Literary. (Apr.)
From the Publisher
"Kirthana Ramisetti is a gifted storyteller, and Advika and the Hollywood Wives is such a gift. The glitz and underlying darkness of Hollywood make for a setting as complex and compelling as Ramisetti's characters, and every page of this smart, sharply-observed novel rings with insight—and with heart."—Meena Harris, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"I could not put this book down. Advika is the kind of heroine we've all been waiting for: readers will laugh with her and cheer her on as she opens our eyes to the truths of grief and sisterhood, of friendship and love, of ambition and fame. Kirthana Ramisetti has a rare gift for penning page-turners full of wisdom, nuance, and depth, and I know I am not alone in saying that I will read any book she writes."—Qian Julie Wang, New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Country
"Pure delight! With Advika, Kirthana Ramisetti has gifted us the boldest of heroines—one who will fight to discover her own worth, and learn to love what she finds.”—Mira Jacob, author of Good Talk
"A Cinderella tale with a dark twist. Beneath the glamorous exterior of this page-turner is a thoughtful story about female empowerment and what happens when promises of happily ever after don't quite meet fairy tale expectations."—Margarita Montimore, USA Today bestselling author
"Kirthana Ramisetti is quickly becoming the go-to author for nuanced stories about fame, family, and love. Advika and the Hollywood Wives is an insightful and moving portrayal of a woman fighting for what she deserves. Told with equal parts humor and heart, this delightful novel is sure to be a favorite for book clubs!"—Saumya Dave, Author of What a Happy Family
"Advika and the Hollywood Wives is my favorite kind of novel: smart yet unassuming, entertaining, and deeply compassionate. With sharp characters and complex insight on fame, ambition, love, and loss, Kirthana Ramisetti has given us a page-turner for movie buffs and book worms alike." —Liv Stratman, Author of Cheat Day
"Advika and the Hollywood Wives is my favorite kind of page-turner: packed with juice, humor, intrigue, and a complex heroine on a quest to discover what’s real beyond the mirage of all that glitters. Kirthana Ramisetti’s knowledge of celebrity culture shines through in every scene, and I couldn’t help but binge!"—Dawnie Walton, author of The Final Revival of Opal and Nev
"Kirthana Ramisetti has a knack for the intriguing, propulsive kind of writing that had us sneaking our mother’s paperbacks as teens. Like Dava Shastri, Advika is a good old-fashioned page-turner, centered around a character we’ve never seen in fiction, but sorely needed to meet."
—Priyanka Mattoo, Writer and filmmaker
"This delicious book is for all of us who love romantic comedies—and yet also mistrust the ways Hollywood romantic tropes can stifle our individuality and creativity in real life. Ramisetti’s zippy, nuanced take on the Bluebeard tale is especially insightful about who gets to be a professional storyteller, and about the pressure to squeeze our lives and stories into the boxes prescribed by popular culture.” —Kate Reed Petty, author of True Story
“This book is deliciously suspenseful. I raced through the pages and found not just a delightful intrigue but also a thoughtful exploration of manipulation, power, and the legacy of sisterhood.”—Marie Rutkoski, author of Real Easy
"Suspenseful and cinematic, Advika and the Hollywood Wives will have you on the edge of your seat from the very first page through the nail-biting grand finale. Kirthana Ramisetti is a novelist in the tradition of Jane Austen, masterfully blending complex human psychology and sharp comedy to bring her finely drawn characters to vivid life. This book is both a cautionary tale about power imbalance in a relationship (trust your instincts, ladies!) and a valentine to friends who are like family."—Erin Carlson, Author of I'll Have What She's Having: How Nora Ephron's Three Iconic Films Saved the Romantic Comedy
“A page-turner packed with mystery, drama, and romance.”—Associated Press
"Nails the Hollywood milieu and offers an incisive portrait of Julian, a powerful man who feels compelled to control the women in his life. This is a winner."—Publishers Weekly
"Looks at Hollywood from a unique and unflinching lens, but also allows for themes of grief, friendship, and love to bloom in unexpecting ways."—Cosmopolitan
"Part love story, part thriller, this novel will appeal to fans of Hollywood and May-December romance."—Kirkus
"A vivid, engrossing drama . . . Ramisetti juxtaposes the glitz and glamour of Hollywood against its underbelly of power imbalances, racism, and the consumption of young hopefuls, especially women. Deep, thoughtful characterization of Advika and the former wives brings extra heft to a complex story of wish fulfillment gone wrong."—Shelf Awareness
"Ramisetti excels at holding back just enough to keep you furiously turning the pages looking for answers in this mystery-meets-romance."—Buzzfeed
“A compelling portrait of a young woman fighting erasure, learning to accept help from her friends, and coming into her own.”—Booklist
"A disturbing twist on the classic Cinderella tale . . . Juicy, propulsive and insightful."—Parade magazine
"A rich portrait of a family facing their powerful matriarch's death, Dava Shastri's Last Day is full of music, magnetism, and familial obligation. If Succession were about a multicultural family who actually loved each other, it might look like this."—Emma Straub, Author of All Adults Here, Praise for Dava Shastri's Last Day
"Ramisetti beautifully weaves keen analysis of celebrity culture and a deep love of music into this perceptive, intergenerational story of resentment, trauma, love, and redemption. A page-turner with humor, heart, and lots of pop music."—Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, New York Times bestselling author of Seinfeldia, Praise for Dava Shastri's Last Day
"Kirthana Ramisetti has written a sweeping saga and also a poignant story about sacrifice and the exacting price of secrecy. Cinematic and intimate, Dava Shastri’s Last Day is an intricate story about family and love."—Devi S. Laskar, Author of The Atlas of Reds and Blues, Praise for Dava Shastri's Last Day
"Dava Shastri's Last Day is a story about ambition and greatness, wealth and family, full of secrets, love, and music, and those eternal pop song complements: heartbreak and hope. It's a gripping, deeply satisfying story about one woman's tremendous life—and the infinitely complicated ways we create our own legacies."
—Kate Racculia, Author of Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts and Bellweather Rhapsody, Praise for Dava Shastri's Last Day
"Ramisetti draws nuanced characters who are introspective and entertaining."—Kirkus, Praise for Dava Shastri's Last Day
Author of Cheat Day Liv Stratman
Advika and the Hollywood Wives is my favorite kind of novel: smart yet unassuming, entertaining, and deeply compassionate. With sharp characters and complex insight on fame, ambition, love, and loss, Kirthana Ramisetti has given us a page-turner for movie buffs and book worms alike.
Emma Straub
A rich portrait of a family facing their powerful matriarch's death, Dava Shastri's Last Day is full of music, magnetism, and familial obligation. If Succession were about a multicultural family who actually loved each other, it might look like this.
USA Today bestselling author Margarita Montimore
A thoughtful story about female empowerment and what happens when promises of happily ever after don't quite meet fairy tale expectations.”
Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
Ramisetti beautifully weaves keen analysis of celebrity culture and a deep love of music into this perceptive, intergenerational story of resentment, trauma, love, and redemption. A page-turner with humor, heart, and lots of pop music.
Devi S. Laskar
Kirthana Ramisetti has written a sweeping saga and also a poignant story about sacrifice and the exacting price of secrecy. Cinematic and intimate, Dava Shastri’s Last Day is an intricate story about family and love.
June 2023 - AudioFile
This lively listening experience about a young woman's journey to piece together her husband's past includes musical interludes, typewriter return clicks, and audience laughter. Twenty-six-year-old aspiring screenwriter Advika's whirlwind romance with Oscar-winning producer Julian, age 72, becomes embittered by red flags that cause Advika increasing concern. And that's before Julian's late first wife bequeaths "Julian's latest child bride" a million dollars and a single film reel--IF she divorces Julian. The possibility entices Advika as she learns about the wives who preceded her. Narrator Rukhmani Desai's pacing complements the audiobook's foreshadowing, and her sighs and speech cadence are expertly used to portray emotion. Desai uses a stilted voice for a character's wooden acting to hilarious effect. A.L.C. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2023-02-23
A down-on-her luck young woman meets and quickly marries a famed Hollywood producer even though he's 41 years her senior.
Twenty-six-year-old Advika Srinivasan has long dreamed of being a screenwriter, but after her twin sister dies in an accident, she gives up. Instead of making the movies she always imagined, she works for a catering company, tending bar at A-list parties. At one of these events she's approached by Julian Zelding, a sexy movie producer who's just won his fifth Oscar. In his late 60s, he’s much older than Advika, but when he makes clear his romantic intentions, she finds herself smitten. After a whirlwind courtship, the two quickly marry. Still grieving her sister’s death and her parents’ subsequent relocation to India, Advika is relieved to have someone who is so committed to her again. Unfortunately, shortly after they tie the knot, Advika begins to discover disconcerting tidbits about Julian’s relationships with his three former wives. She wonders if she’s made a terrible mistake and whether she'll ever be able to escape him. Told in a close third-person voice, the novel follows Advika as she tries to learn more about Julian by examining the lives of his exes. Full of details about everything that makes Hollywood both magical and frighteningly powerful, the story also highlights how much it meant to Advika to see Indian characters in a film in her youth and how deeply she cares about bringing greater diversity to the industry. The author also creates a complex and nuanced character in Julian, whose motivation and agenda seem to provoke more questions than answers. At times, there is a frustrating lack of clarity as Ramisetti chooses to keep from ever explaining certain aspects of Julian’s behavior. Conversely, there are times when an abundance of unnecessary details interrupts the pace of the narrative. Even so, the underlying premise of this unique story is sufficiently beguiling that readers will keep turning pages in their hurry to find out how it all ends.
Part love story, part thriller, this novel will appeal to fans of Hollywood and May-December romance.
