HALF GIRLFRIEND by Bhagat Chetan [Paperback]

Half Girlfriend by Chetan Bhagat is a contemporary young-adult romance centred on Madhav Jha, a middle-class boy from Bihar who gains admission to the prestigious St. Stephen’s College in Delhi. Coming from a Hindi- and Bhojpuri-speaking background, Madhav struggles to adjust to the sophisticated English-speaking urban environment. There, he meets Riya Somani, a wealthy, confident and accomplished Delhi girl, and falls deeply in love with her.

Madhav proposes to Riya, but she wants their relationship to remain a friendship. Eventually, she agrees to become his “half girlfriend”, creating an unconventional relationship that leaves Madhav uncertain about where they stand. Their story unfolds across Bihar, Delhi and New York, as love, social class, language barriers, ambition and personal differences repeatedly pull them together and apart.

The novel explores young love and modern relationships, while also highlighting the difficulties faced by someone from a small-town or regional-language background when entering an elite metropolitan environment. At its heart, it is a story about love, aspiration, social and linguistic barriers, belonging and the desire to overcome differences for someone you love.