The Woman in the Purple Skirt

Plainly put, this is a story of a woman being stalked - told from the stalker's perspective. The narrator follows around the Woman in the Purple Skirt, often recording her whereabouts and routines in her diary, and subtly manipulating her life by leaving behind shampoo samples or magazines with jobs ads encircled with a pen.

I won't lie - the premise was intriguing; and although the whole stalking bit was quite unsettling, it had a degree hilarity and absurdity which made reading the book enjoyable. The book explores the themes of loneliness, and the desire to be seen as is evident from the narrator's intense obsession with the Woman in the Purple Skirt, who she believes to be someone known to everyone, as opposed to herself, who is always in the shadows. The book also explores the theme of power dynamics and politics at play in the workplace, where envy and gossip can often led to adverse consequences, and it also throws light on the plight faced by single woman in the workplace, often manipulated and besmirched by those in power.

While I don't deny the entertainment value, and fast paced nature of the book, I still feel the ending was a little too abrupt. I still have questions I think the author should've answered. And the themes, although interesting, were only superficially explored through the storyline.