Description:
At 32 years old, Sharmila Sen is a successful graphic artist in Chicago, and possesses the natural beauty of her Indian heritage ("You know, big eyes, full mouth, shoulder-length black hair, and a slender body," she explains). Indeed she seems to have it all--except for one thing: a husband. As the daughter of educated upper-caste Indian immigrants, Sharmila is assured by her parents that they can arrange the perfect marriage with an affluent and handsome bachelor in India. "I'm almost the last person I'd expect to marry an up-and-coming young executive in New Delhi," she admits, but apparently having lost all patience with American men, Sharmila agrees to marry the widower Raj Khosla, who seems to have all the qualities a woman would want: good looks, money, and charm. When Sharmila arrives in India, she is first met by Raj's driver, Prem, because Raj has been delayed on business. This initial disappointment is the first of a series that Sharmila experiences as she adjusts to her new world, a world that both appeals to her Indian identity and offends her modern sensibilities. Raj is away a lot on business, so there is little chance for the betrothed to get to know each other. His household, run by his controlling mother, is haunted by the tragedy of his first wife's death and is not the sanctuary Sharmila longs for. Her personal tour guide and only true friend, Prem, grows more and more attractive each day, but his low status as a Dalit (an "untouchable") complicates their relationship. As the bride-to-be inwardly struggles with both her instinctive distrust of Raj (even his mother warns her that "Raj has always been popular with the women") and the rigid social conventions that disapprove of her feelings for Prem, she must face the fact that her future happiness is in jeopardy. Bharti Kirchner, who has authored several Indian cookbooks and one other novel, Shiva Dancing, has conceived a compelling story complete with betrayal, forbidden love, and heated moments of passion--but one-dimensional characters, predictable plotting, and overwrought metaphors ("An invisible sword of neglect wounds me") leach the tale of its richness. Nevertheless, there's a certain charm to Sharmila's search for love and belonging, and Kirchner's skillful infusion into the narrative of the exotic smells, colors, and chaos that make up India goes a long way toward mitigating the book's flaws. --Rebecca Robinson
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