Book In Review

       Ok, i have to admit; this book had me immersed in it’s tale.  It is the extra-ordinary story of two female cousins.  There are many layers in their family of fractured and broken dreams. 

        The two young girls were born at the same time and their entire lives are so inter-woven with each other that it is almost like they are each half of the same person.  Their fathers died together seeking adventure and fortune in rubies.   They were raised in an environment of women who are at the mercy of their culture in a world that is ruled by strict codes of conduct regarding the lower value of a female in a caste system.

       While they were growing up, one child (Sudha) perceived herself to be the black sheep of the family living in Calcutta, India  due to some faulty family secret that a family elder passed on to her.  Her whole life she choose to submit herself to less than what she deserved because of this faulty information.  She sacrificed her happiness for her cousin Anju, out of a misplaced sense of duty and loyalty because of the secret.  The story is set in a very different culture and the expectations of a young woman at a marriagable age are very different in India than they are in America; it is interesting to explore that in this book.  Theirs was a world of arranged marriages, dowelries and bring forth a son is the ultimate stamp of approval.

        She loved her cousin like a sister and vise versa.  There were so many layers to the story and yet underneath the whole of it…was that enduring love and need for each other.  Many didn’t understand their bond and sought to destroy it.  While their bonds were stretched and strained it was never severed.

          The actions of others weave drama such as betrayal, lies, theft, envy,miscarriage, abortion, pride and the list goes on of the less stellar characteristics of the human race.  Love wins out in the end and the world is open to any and all possibilities once again when the truth comes out.

         The book was written by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and it was published by Anchor Books , a division of Random House, Inc; copyrighted in 1999.