Sharmila's Book - Hardcover

Kirchner, Bharti

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0525943684 ISBN 13: 9780525943686

Publisher: Dutton, 1999

Synopsis

Traveling to India to prepare for an arranged marriage, Sharmilla falls in love with the country and, uncomfortable with the secrets kept by her intended's family, must unravel the mystery surrounding her fiance's first wife's untimely death before she can find happiness for herself

About this title

Reviews

YA-Her parents moved to the States from India before she was born, so Sharmila considers herself a good amalgam of Indian and American cultures. Over 30, college educated, and working as a graphic artist, she is living an American life. However, as she is still single, her parents arrange a marriage for her to an American-educated Indian businessman in New Delhi. Sharmila's Indian part thinks this might be a good idea, and so off she goes to stay with her fiance, his mother, young sister, and their servants while details of the wedding are arranged. There she is attracted to Raj, her betrothed, and a friend of his, an educated untouchable of fine character, who is serving as her chauffeur. Ultimately, Raj turns out to have feet of clay and a dark secret in his past, the chauffeur genuinely loves her, and Sharmila must make modern American choices in a traditional Indian society. Several subplots involving the other members of the household keep the pages turning. While the plot is predictable and the characters are stock, sprightly writing, well-defined moral choices, and a wonderfully exotic sense of place make the story a natural page-turner for teens.
Judy McAloon, Potomac Library, Prince William County, VA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Sharmila Sen, Chicago-born graphic artist and aerobics instructor, is a "thoroughly modern" 32-year-old woman who's looking for lasting love and a way to get in touch with her Indian heritage. Reeling from a series of short, broken romances, Sharmila counterintuitively tries to achieve both goals with one move: bowing to her concerned, traditional Indian mother's wishes, Sharmila agrees to an arranged marriage. Soon, New Delhi electronics executive Raj Khosla, whom she has never met, is chosen as her fiance, and Sharmila moves to India, a country she vaguely remembers from a single childhood trip. The premise of Indian-born Seattle novelist (Shiva Dancing) Kirchner's amorous misadventure seems like a pretext for a witty dissection of some of India's anachronisms and rigidities, notably arranged marriage, male chauvinism and the stigmatization of lower-caste or "untouchable" persons. Sharmila, arriving in Delhi, tries hard to fall in love with Raj, even as she discovers that her exacting fiance, a stuffed shirt, travels constantly, beds other women and may be concealing a dark secret about the circumstances surrounding the death of his first wife. Fortunately, Sharmila comes to her senses when she discovers Raj in bed with the housemaid, and by then she's found genuine love with the Khoslas' chauffeur, honest, noble Prem, a well-educated "untouchable." But in one of the many improbable plot twists, Sharmila's mother destroys her plans to marry Prem, offending his pride with a $50,000 bribe to get lost. The novel bristles with postfeminist insights into "how women perpetuate their deplorable condition" in India, but more eerily describes how the families of the betrothed conspire to keep the ill-matched pair together despite their obvious discord. Though Kirchner's cautionary tale is sometimes smart, swift and funny, with rich dollops of local color, the story's unlikely trajectory makes it hard to muster much interest in Sharmila's romantic dilemma.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From an Indian-born cookbook author and second-novelist (Shiva Dancing, 1998, etc.) comes this luminously evocative, if breathless, tale of the cultural fissures that emerge as a very modern woman contemplates an arranged marriage. Kirchners tale is an affectionate grace note to the subcontinent as well as a sensual feast: she describes vividly the sights, sounds, and especially the food encountered by her protagonist, Sharmila. But at the same time, the story she tells, while provocative, does not serve Sharmila quite so well. Allegedly intelligent, an artist born and raised in Chicago by her immigrant parents, shes savvy and hip, but her reaction to lovers (I glow from a momentary brush with fire) and the story itself seem more like brushes with the stuff of pulp fiction. After a number of disappointing relationships, thirtysomething Sharmila finally consents to her Hindu mother arranging a marriage for her. Mother soon finds someonewidower Raj Khosalaand Sharmila heads to India to get to know Raj and her future in-laws. At the airport in Delhi, she is met by both Raj and Prem, his ``untouchable driver. Raj is handsome and agreeable but leaves immediately on a business trip. Prem, who has a college degree, becomes Sharmila's tour guide. Meantime, Raj's mother is not exactly welcoming, and Sharmila soon learns that the well-born Khosala family has secrets: Raj's first wife died in the house, and Sharmila's father may be giving them a dowry despite her wishes to pay off their debts. Sharmila is attracted to and then repelled by Raj and his family, finds herself increasingly drawn to Prem, andthough initially delighting in all things Indianmoves inevitably toward finding the culture ever more oppressive. The pressures increase as the wedding nears, as Sharmilas parents arrive, and as Sharmila herself must decide to whether cancel the engagement. Overall, multicultural romance lite. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Sharmila Sen, a Chicago-born graphic artist raised with two cultures, makes the decision to travel to India and accept an arranged marriage. She is to spend the two months prior to the wedding with the family of her prospective groom. Gradually, Sharmila discovers in India a country that calls to her soul, meets a casteless family and develops personal relationships that will not be allowed to survive her marriage, and uncovers some uncomfortable truths about her betrothed and the accidental death of his first wife. In her second novel, Kirchner (Shiva Dancing, Dutton, 1998) tells a contemporary story enriched by a centuries-old culture. She creates strong visual images of the colors and complexities of modern India, weaving them with effective characterization into a captivating novel. Highly recommended for readers looking for something just a little bit different.?Caroline M. Hallsworth, Cambrian Coll., Ontario
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Dutton
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0525943684
• ISBN 13: 9780525943686
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304