Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - The Direction of the Wind

A good heartfelt read about a daughter chasing her mother's past to find out the truth about who she was and the decisions she had made. Sophie had believed for years that her mother had died in a bad accident, and after her father passes the truth comes to light while she is helping to clean out the house. Not fully understanding why this secret was taken to her father’s grave, Sophie decides she needs to find her mother and heads to Paris in hopes of a reconciliation and answers to how different her childhood could have been. Coming from a very traditional Indian family, Sophie is going against tradition and the rules of what is expected of her during this time. It has been made clear by her aunts that her mother already disgraced the family and Sophie cannot follow in those footsteps. Plans have been made for her future and she needs to abide by what the family has done to help her move to her next step in life, being a wife and house maker. Knowing little about life outside of her Indian town, Sophie heads to a whole different world and quickly learns the potential draw this had on her mother as she chases down lead after lead and finds pieces of herself on her journey. Thank you to Suzy Approved Book Tours for the invite and to the author for sending me a free copy of her novel. I enjoyed this story and learned a lot about the Indian culture and traditions.

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

The Direction of the Wind is the story of a daughter searching for her mother. This book is set in Paris and Ahmedabad of 1998 and 2019. Alternating between the stories of Nita and Sophie we get to transverse their stories.This is the premise in nutshell. Throughout the journey we get to see other characters who are stuck in their own stories.

I liked the part where the author tries to highlight the part where the narrative talks about the mental illnesses not discussed enough. Nita's turmoil about leaving her family is written well. But that's where my liking for this novel ends.

I am probably one of those people who is going to be critical about this novel. Nita and Sophie are stuck in patriarchal society I agree but some of their actions just doesn't add up. Nita is an educated person but without doing any research moves to a different country just because she wants to pursue art and is fed up with her privileged life. Same with Sophie. An accountant goes to Paris without looking up hotels, something called as Uber and Paris of this age doesn't have Indians? I get it that patriarchal society is prevalent in India but writing these women characters as dumb doesn't make sense. And since when does having pets in India not common.

Can Indian American authors please stop projecting India as this backward country where everything is about poverty, street animals and gossiping aunties? Please look at other diverse authors who try to incorporate their culture positively too and highlight the wonderful community they have. Sadly this novel disappointed me.

CW: Child Abandonment, addiction, drug usage, Infidelity, sexual assault

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