Monica Pradhan

This was highly reminiscent of Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club. We have two generations of three immigrant families – mothers Meenal Deshpande, Saroj Chawla, and Uma Basu McGuiness; and daughters Kiran Deshpande, Preity Chawla Lindstrom, and Rani McGuiness Tomashot. The interconnected stories begin when newly divorced Kiran comes home (without any advance notice) to the Washington DC area where her parents and their friends have settled. Kiran has focused on her career as a surgeon, but she’s missing a life partner. She sees how her childhood friends have prospered in the marriages their parents arranged for them, so she has decided to ask her parents to find her a mate. Let the fireworks begin!

Pradhan alternates narrators from chapter to chapter, sometimes focusing on one of the daughters and sometimes on one of the mothers. The older generation struggled with leaving their homeland, coming to America and learning both the language and how to fit in. Their daughters consider themselves American first, and while they may have learned to make a few of the traditional Indian dishes their mothers are famous for, they’ve concentrated on education and careers. There is a constant push/pull between cultural tradition and modern sensibilities.

I enjoyed learning a bit more of the history of India, of the disparate cultures within the subcontinent, and particularly of partition and the resultant cultural/religious wars between Hindus and Muslims. I understood the mothers’ reluctance to relate some of their past experiences, but also felt the relief of secrets finally revealed and the understanding and healing that came from those discussions.

There comes a time in every mother/daughter relationship when the child matures to the point where they can relate to one another as two women and not just mother/child. As I was reading this novel I was reminded – and could easily recognize – when that dynamic changed for me and my mother.

Just as in real life, it’s not all drama and angst. There is plenty of humor, tenderness, laughter and tears of joy.

Oh, and there are some wonderful recipes included throughout the book. I want to try one or two of them myself.… (plus d'informations)

I couldn't figure out where to put this one. yes, it is a take off on the much better and more literate Joy Luck Club and there is a lot of interesting information about India (and Pakistan and British colonialism and immigrant culture and even current politics), but sometimes it got to be too much and I found my eyes crossing. The history and politics were obscuring the human story rather than illuminating it. A bit preachy, even though I could agree with the politics of it. The recipes are better in Marlene De Blase's books and the history better in A Suitable Boy (Vikram Seth).… (plus d'informations)