I started Anuja Chauhan’s debut book, ‘The Zoya Factor’ immediately after finishing and writing a review for ‘Those Pricey Thakur Girls’. Simultaneously, I ordered ‘Battle for Bittora’, hoping that it would be delivered as soon as I complete this.
This story is about 27 year old Zoya Singh Solanki who works with an advertising agency, AWB. She was born on 25 June 1983 at Cochin, at the moment when India won the Cricket World Cup and livesat 13, Rohtak Road, Delhi with her father, Vijayendra Singh Solanki and his three brothers. Her elder brother,Zoravar, is in the army. Eppa is their 50 something housekeeper and they have a dog, Meeku. RinkuChachi is her favourite aunt.
At the beginning of the book, she is in Mumbai with her friend and colleague,Monita, shooting an ad with Shah Rukh Khan when her boss, SankarMenon, asks her to come back to Delhi and go with the Indian team to Dhaka to shoot an ad for Zing.
She meets the Indian team at Dhaka at the photoshoot the next day, which is not completed. So,on the morning of the match with England, when she goes to discuss about it, she has breakfast with the team and in passing mentions that she had had breakfast with them once before and the team had won. His time again, the team wins, they start treating her as a lucky charm. When she does not have breakfast with the team and they lose, the belief becomes stronger.
The IBCC (Indian Board of Cricket Control) starts believing the lucky charm theory and she is flown to Australia for the tenth ICC World Cup, she agrees. Rinku chachi and Monita accompany her to Australia.
The Indian captain, Nikhil Khoda does not believe in luck and superstitions but finds her present at the team breakfast on the morning of each match, and they win.
She goes through a lot of personal ups and downs. The country starts believing in her as a goddess, the media love her and hate her at the same time.
I am a cricket fan and I enjoyed the way she has described the matches in the book. Reading the book at the time when the ICC Champions trophy is being played at England and Wales made it all the more interesting.
Eppa’s english is very cute. Rinku Chachi is very nice. Zoravar is an understanding elder brother. AnujaChauhan has written very well, especially spelling the words in the way they are pronounced by the characters like ‘thenk you’.
I loved the book and would recommend it to all cricket fans and also Mills and Boon readers.
Book Source: Bought
Publisher: Harper Collins India
Metro Reader 
once I came across The Zoya Factor…but I didn’t buy it,don’t remember why…but it has to be on my bookshelve I guess 🙂