Tag: Indian setting

Chitra Banderjee Divakaruni’s—Before we visit the goddess

This is a tale of three generations of women and the mistakes and hardships they face both in India and in the U.S.

Sabitri dreams of going to college so she can rise above her mother’s poverty-stricken life. She is given the opportunity by a rich family her mother makes mitai for, but her dream evaporates because of her ill-fated love. When her daughter, Bela is in college she is distressed by Bela’s relationship with Sanjay, a political Bengali rebel. Bela abandons her studies and flees to the U.S. to reconnect with Sanjay—the second generation to forsake her studies for love. In Bela’s daughter’s teenage years, will she do the same?

Katherine Boo’s—Behind the beautiful forevers *****

A cast of characters in Annawadi slums near Mumbai’s airport are hopeful when India’s economy starts to bloom. Some are metal thieves, others collect recyclable garbage, but when their day is done, they live in close proximity to everyone so that there are few secrets.

This is a must read story with the focus on a Muslim family striving for a better life. The book reads like fiction, but was actually the author’s observations and research during her three years living in Mumbai.

Alka Joshi’s — The henna artist *****

After Lakshmi runs away from her abusive husband, she begins work as a henna artist in 1950s Jaipur. For years she struggles to survive, and gradually develops a reputation as the city’s best henna artist. But then her bedraggled husband arrives with her sister, Radha whom she has never known existed. She struggles to develop a bond with orphaned Radha, and to rid herself of a husband who demands money. Will he give her the divorce she wants, and will she be able to survive her mounting debts?

Anita Rau Badami’s — The hero’s walk *****

What happens when you lose the most precious person in your life — a daughter? This is the agonizing dilemma Sripathi, living in India, finds himself in when he learns of his daughter and husband’s death in Canada. Soon their daughter, Nandana arrives and Sripathi has to come to terms with his loss.

Tell it to the trees is equally as good, but Hero’s Walk is Badami’s champion for pulling at the heart strings.