I went into this book knowing it was set during the pandemic, and it kept its focus tight. The story follows Aditya Sen, a virologist whose stand on scientific truth brings him into conflict with powerful people, and the book is mostly told through his estranged wife Madhuri as she tries to piece together what really happened.
Why I kept reading
I was pulled in by the sense of someone trying to find the facts when the official story feels wrong. The chapters move between Madhuri’s memories and the things she discovers — a laptop, lab reports and other documents — and that slow unravelling made me want to keep turning pages to see how much of the public story could be trusted.
The themes that stayed with me
What hit me most was the book’s focus on scientific honesty versus career pressure and institutional power. It is less a whodunit and more an exploration of how systems can crush a person’s reputation and how truth gets buried when money and authority are involved. That theme made the story feel meaningful beyond the immediate plot.
The writing and the pace
The prose is clear and unshowy. Scenes are spare, which suits the subject — the book rarely lingers for the sake of style, it mostly stays with Madhuri’s work of piecing things together. The timeline feels compact and focused, and that keeps the emotional weight from getting diluted.
What I liked about the characters
I connected with Madhuri. She is neither a perfect investigator nor a melodramatic widow; she is ordinary, confused and determined in ways that felt real. Aditya is written with enough detail that his choices and integrity matter to the reader, even when much of his life is being told secondhand. That balance made the emotional parts land for me.
Small things I wished were different
If I have to be picky, a couple of parts could have gone deeper into the science or into certain relationships so I could feel them more strongly. This is a very small thing because the book’s aim is the moral and social questions, not a full scientific primer. My critique is very small and gentle.
Final take
Overall I found this a thoughtful, steady book that mixes a personal story with sharper questions about truth and power. It stayed with me after I closed it, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes fiction that asks serious questions without getting loud about them.
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