thebookishtales's review
4.0
You know you loved reading a book when the first thoughts you have are about the book after waking up!
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A beautiful story of three generations, Sabitri, Bela and Tara. The story starts in rural Bengal and ends in Texas.
Sabitri is a daughter of a poor sweet maker in Bengal, for whom education is a privilege. A rich woman from the village sponsors her education but one mistake makes everything go haywire.
Bela, Sabitri's daughter elopes with her lover to the US. Hers is a story of immense whirlwinds.
Tara, Bela's daughter is born and raised in the US. Tara will learn about life and love in the hard way. I loved how dysfunctional Tara's character was. A confused first generation immigrant in the US, her story is told very effortlessly and we could connect with her easily.
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You cannot help but love the three women in the book. I loved Sabitri's character the most because of her strong willed nature. A beautiful story highlighting a mother daughter relationship. The book feels like reading many short stories within the main story. I loved the writing and the way of story telling. I admit it started off as mediocre for me, but I am glad I kept reading. The story became more intense as it progressed and it was hard to put this book down. What I loved most about it that how brilliantly the story was told through various POV's. I love Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's works and this one made me fall head over heels with her books once again.
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It combines love, loneliness, separation, betrayal and dreams! At first I thought it was just another story about Indian immigrants and first generation Indian Americans, but no, it is much more than that. Please read this!
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A beautiful story of three generations, Sabitri, Bela and Tara. The story starts in rural Bengal and ends in Texas.
Sabitri is a daughter of a poor sweet maker in Bengal, for whom education is a privilege. A rich woman from the village sponsors her education but one mistake makes everything go haywire.
Bela, Sabitri's daughter elopes with her lover to the US. Hers is a story of immense whirlwinds.
Tara, Bela's daughter is born and raised in the US. Tara will learn about life and love in the hard way. I loved how dysfunctional Tara's character was. A confused first generation immigrant in the US, her story is told very effortlessly and we could connect with her easily.
~
You cannot help but love the three women in the book. I loved Sabitri's character the most because of her strong willed nature. A beautiful story highlighting a mother daughter relationship. The book feels like reading many short stories within the main story. I loved the writing and the way of story telling. I admit it started off as mediocre for me, but I am glad I kept reading. The story became more intense as it progressed and it was hard to put this book down. What I loved most about it that how brilliantly the story was told through various POV's. I love Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's works and this one made me fall head over heels with her books once again.
~
It combines love, loneliness, separation, betrayal and dreams! At first I thought it was just another story about Indian immigrants and first generation Indian Americans, but no, it is much more than that. Please read this!
risabella's review against another edition
3.0
A magical, gut-wrenching and painful read spanning three generations of Indian women. One by one getting further and further away from India, experiencing America and finding redemption for themselves.
This was hard to read but beautiful as well. Hard because humans can be harsh to each other (more so than to themselves and culture so often overrides what we really want to do and say. So much can be left unsaid.
A bit scattered since it switches between many characters and timelines. Looking forward to chatting about this for book club though!
This was hard to read but beautiful as well. Hard because humans can be harsh to each other (more so than to themselves and culture so often overrides what we really want to do and say. So much can be left unsaid.
A bit scattered since it switches between many characters and timelines. Looking forward to chatting about this for book club though!
just_one_more_chapter_please's review against another edition
3.0
This would be 4 stars, but there were a few things that run didn't sit right with me. Namely, parts of the book were too preachy; the different POVs didn't sound like different POVs, they just sounded like one person speaking about different people; and there were some inconsistencies (i.e. talking about Facebook in a chapter that was supposed to be in 2000). Otherwise, it was a sweet story.
emmerboo's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
reindeerbandit's review against another edition
5.0
this was written so beautifully and i loved all the narrators and time jumps. the author did an incredible job of integrating all the story lines.
mhoechsmann's review against another edition
3.0
Have been wanting to read more books that highlight Indian culture/history. This was a decent read about different generations of women within a family, who just maybe never learned the importance of communication.
san_isa_reader_tooooo's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
booklover1974's review against another edition
DNF.... stopped at page 101. The first part of the book was good but then things started to become so unrealistic that I got annoyed with the book. So sad because I had high hopes.
amellear's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0