Birck Lane by Monica Ali

Ali, Monica. Brick Lane, New York : Scribner, 2003.

This is a story about everyday life, where courage is required to live it.  It is about a young Bangladeshi woman living in London, struggling to make sense of home, family, Islam and even adultery.  At 18, after an arranged marriage to a middle-aged man ugly as sin, Nazneen is whisked away to London.  She is in an environment devoid of the language to communicate.  Chanu, her husband warns her not leave the apartment, as people will talk.

The excitement in this book is the unravelling of Nazneen’s new identity.  Motherhood is the first catalyst of change.  She loses her first child at infancy, but her daughters Shahana and Bibi thrive.  There is a shift in power when Shahana rebels against her father, an ineffectual martinet.  Nazneen plays the role of the peacemaker and holds the family together.  Nazneen soon becomes the breadwinner, as Chanu falls into the clutches of the money lender Mrs Islam.  Becoming the chief wager, doing piece work at home, Nazneen meets middleman and activist Kazim and they become lovers.  Chanu decides to return to Bangladesh and Nazneen asserts herself.  She deals forcefully with Mrs Islam, Kazim and Chanu and emerges as a strong, modern woman.

Monica Ali as the author sees everything.  She was born in Bangladesh and raised in the UK and records everything she sees.  An interesting read for those wanting to experience the loneliness that accompanies immigrants, when they head to new pastures.  They have no language skills and have either sink or swim.


This book has alos been made into a mive and the link to You tube is :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApKTtTyp_k8

Monica Ali was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh and grew up in London.  She was recognised by Granta as Best of Young British Novelists of the decade and has been nominated for most of the major literary prizes in Britain.  Brick Lane was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the George Orwell Prize for political wiritng and the prestigious Commonwealth Writers'Prize.  Internationally too, she has been recognised in the United States by the national Book Critics Circle Award and the Los Angeles Times "First Fiction" Prize where the book was shortlisted.

 .

Gifted by Nikita Lalwani

Lalwani, Nikita. Gifted, New York : Random House,c2007.

This story deals with an immigrant child, who is considered ‘gifted’ child.  Rumika Vasi struggles to fulfil her family’s demand on her.  Her father is determined that his daughter be accepted into Oxford University at the tender age of 14 – as the youngest undergraduate. 

Shreene, Rumika’s mother resentfully accepts the household’s dominance of Rumika’s studies, while contemplates how she is to raise her daughter as a proper young Indian woman.  Rumi grapples with maths and also with the new equation called love.

Lalwani portrays a myriad of cultural contradictions and Rumi’s warm relationship with India.  Although Rumi was born in the UK she has never felt at home in the UK.  The books deals with subverted immigrant identity clichés – neither of Rumika’s parents feel accepted in the Welsh community, so they channel their energies into making Rumika a child prodigy and thereby want to be recognised.

Interesting read to observe that Rumi, who has a deprived childhood a math nerd rebels against this regime and seeks a life of her own.

Nikita Lalwani, was born in Rajasthan and raised in Cardiff.  Her book “Gifted” was long listed for the Man Booker Prize.  Currently this book is being translated into 16 languages and the book has been adapted by BBC Radio 4 as a drama.

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Lahiri, Jhumpa.  The Namesake, Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 2003.

This is a novel about assimilation and generational differences written by the much acclaimed writer of “Interpreter of Maladies” Jhumpa Lahiri, and won the Pulitzer prize in 2000.

After an arranged marriage, Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli emigrate to Massachusetts, and soon after Gogal is born.  The choice of this name for their son has a bizarre history to it – Ashoke was reading Nikola Gogl’s ‘The Overcoat’ which saved him when the train he was on was derailed and most passengers died.  The couple adopt American ways, yet all their friends are Bengalis.  For Gogol and his sister, Boston is home and trips to Calcutta are voyages to a foreign land!  Gogol finds his strange name irritating and eventually changes it to Nikhil.  The story is about a teenager, struggling to come to terms with his heritage and the challenges of growing up and the tugging of family ties.

The pace is relaxed and the storyline character driven.   This book has also been made into a movie.  The following is a link to You tube of the movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmH_ZKX23iA&feature=related

Jhumpha Lahiri was born in London and raised in Rhode Island.  Her debut collection of stories Interpreter of Maladies was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.  Her novel  The namesake was selected as one of the best books of the year by USA Today & Entertainment Weekly.

The unknown errors of our lives by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee. The unknown errors of our lives. New York: Doubleday,c2001.

A collection of short stories focussing on women,  striving to create a balance between the present and the past and forging a new identity for themselves.  Characters are searching or escaping – from what?  The “Blooming Season for Cacti” depicts a young woman fleeing from the riots of Bombay embarking on a voyage to California.  Mira, finds employment at an Indian restaurant and a home with the restaurateur’s mistress.  However, things are no different in Sacramento.

Another short story “Mrs Dutta Writes a Letter” portrays a widow living with her son’s family in suburban Sunnyvale.  She struggles to convey a glowing account of her new life to a friend in India – however she conveys her struggles with complicated machines and disrespectful grandchildren – much to the embarrassment of her daughter-in-law.

Perhaps the most beautiful story in this collection is “The Names of Stars in Bengali,” where a San Francisco wife and mother, visits her native village to see her mother.  Both mother and daughter understand and realise the emotional dislocation caused by “immigration”- like stepping into a time machine which makes all of them maladjusted.

An excellent read for students to appreciate the emotional scars that are left on people who take this perilous journey.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni was born in Kolkata, India.  she resides in the USA and is the co-founder and former president of Maitri, a helpline founded in 1991 for South Asian women dealing with domestic abuse.

Writing on my forehead by Nafisa Haji

Haji, Nafisa. Writing on my forehead. New York : William Morrow & Co, 2009.

This book explores the collision of culture and religion; tradition versus modernity portrayed through the lives of individuals.  A tale of forbidden love woven through a dysfunctional family over multiple generations.

Saira Qader, is a young American woman whose parents are immigrants from a traditional Indo-Pakistani ethnicity and now living in Los Angeles. Unlike her sister, Ameena, who happily agrees to an arranged marriage with a handsome doctor, Saira—like her great aunt before her—has different aspirations.   She is inspired by her cousin Mohsin's photography and stories of their half-uncle's exploits; she goes to college and studies journalism.  Her career takes off and after five years, the twin towers tragedy strikes and forces Saira to take stock – to examine her place in the family.

Author Haji, very deftly positions her heroine as a witness to her family’s history.  The grandmother who soldiered on and kept the family together,  inspite of the grandfather’s philandering ways to the gay cousin, who comes out of the closet and thus alienates himself from his family.

Nafisa Haji was born and mostly raised in Los Angeles.  Her family migrated from Bombay to Karachi in 1947 during Partition, when the Indian subcontinent was divided into two countires.  She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley majoring in American History and later obtained her doctorate in education from the University of California, Los Angeles.  she serves on the borad of Freedom Forward, an organisation working to ensure the alignment of American ideals of freedon with the reality with American foreign policy.

A good Indian wife by Anne Cherian

Cherian, Anne. A good Indian wife, New York : W.W. Norton, c2008.

Anne Cherian writes about an arranged marriage between Anaesthesiologist Neel Sarath and Leila, a local English teacher.  Neel who is a fully assimilated Indian-American doctor,  returns to India, to see his ailing grandfather.  

Whilst visiting, to appease his family, Neel agrees to marry Leila, thinking it would be only a marriage of convenience.  On his return to America, he continues with his girlfriend Caroline, and Leila plays along unsuspecting even when their marriage is not consummated. 

However, soon Leila finds her own support group and thinks about studying creative writing at Berkeley. When grand father dies, things come to a head, as Caroline, thinks Neel would divorce Leila and marry her.  However, things are not as simple as they may appear.

Anne Cherian was born and raised in Jamshedpur, India.  She graduated from Bombay and bangalore Universities and obtained a graduate degree in journalism and comparative literature  from the University of California, Berkeley.

If today be sweet by Thrity. N. Umrigar

Umrigar, Thrity.N. If today be sweet. New York : William Marrow/Harper Collins, 2007.

This book deals with extended family joining the westernised family and the tensions that accompany such integration.  Tehmina is a middle-aged widow visitng her son Sorab and his American wife in Ohio.  She is heartbroken and is not in a position to make such an important decision which will alter her life for ever.  She has to decide whether she spends the rest of her life in the sterile Midwest or prefer the earthy, chaotic Bombay.  Meanwhile, the lack of privacy for her son and his wife, puts added pressure on their marriage.

This could have been another story about widowhood, but Umrigar, is able to convey emotions about love, death, identity crisis and bridging of cultures.  It will appeal to readers as it is a sublime tale of cross-cultural lives driven by tradition and transformed by love.

Thrity Umrigar is an Indian American writer, who was born in Mumbai and immigrated to US.  She is a journalist and writer by profession.  Other books to her credit are:  Bombay Time, The space between us and The weight of heaven.

Londonstani by Gautum Malkani

Malkani, Gautum. Londonstani, New York: Penguin Press 2006.

The setting for this story is in London’s Hounslow section which boasts of a large Indi-Pakistan community.  Jas, 18 hangs out with his Sikh and Hindu friends which has the hall marks of the typical gangster setting;  headed by Hardjit, the Sikh bodybuilder, Ravi the sexual braggart and Amit the Hindu nationalist.  

Jas has to keep his secret about the gorgeous Samara, from his friends as she is a Muslim.  Soon tensions surface between Sikhs and Muslims – almost similar to the West Side story setting.  There are also tensions between adults – quarrels about assimilation, about tradition, family and guilt.  This book explores the ‘punk’ side of children born in the UK to immigrant Indian parents.  The language used in the book captures the essence of gangster culture very cleverly.  “Dat bitch b trouble, u get me?”

An excellent read to get an insight into this dichotomy of two cultures and the tensions that surface.

Madras on rainy days by Samina Ali

Ali, Samina. Madras on rainy days, New York : Farrar, Straus,and Groux, 2004.

Here is a young woman torn between certainties of life in India and the possibility of liberating challenges of America.  She agrees to an arranged Islamic marriage that has disastrous consequences.  Samina Ali, describes in detail the customs and traditions and ceremonies and cultures of this community.  Set in the city of Hyderabad, a minority Islamic society in a majority Hindu country.  Ali’s heroine, Layla spent her childhood in equal parts both in the US and India.  She enjoyed the freedom and opportunities of the US, but strangely was comforted and felt secure in the rules and rituals of India.  So to appease her parents, Layla agrees to an arranged marriage with Sameer.  During her period of engagement Layla has an affair with Nate and to complicate matters falls pregnant.  However, the marriage takes place and there is another twist to this story as Sameer is found to have a male partner.  Both families are determined to continue with this farcical marriage, even though Islamic law permits divorce.  Tensions between Muslims and Indus mount and show how vulnerable women are.    

An interesting read for readers to appreciate inter-racial marriages and the tensions that simmer in such relationships.

Samina Ali was born in Hyderabad, India and emigrated with her parents to the US when she was an infant. She spent half of each yearin India, where she attended school.  She graduated from the University of Minnesota.  Madras on Rainy Days was awared the Prix du Premier Roman Etranger award in 2005 and was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award in fiction.

In the Convent of Little Flowers: stories by Indu Sundaresan

Sundaresan, Indu. In the convent of Little Flowers, New York : Atria Books, 2008.

This is a collection of short stories, depicting Westernised Indians, who are trying to come to terms with the rural traditions of their past.  In “Shelter of Rain” a young woman adopted out from an Indian orphanage and raised in Seattle by white American parents receives a letter from her biological aunt and recalls some of her early childhood. 

Other stories in this collection are more confronting.  In “Faithful Wife”, a young reporter leaves for the city, on hearing the village is planning to burn a 12 year-old child widow, honouring the age old tradition.

Other characters have difficulty in accepting the loss of tradition. In “The Most Unwanted,” Nathan a grandfather must learn to accept his illegitimate grandson, who is living with him in the same house.  He resents his grandson, for the mistakes of his daughter.

Indu Sundaresan was born and brought up in India, daughter of an Air Force Pilot.  Both her father and grand father were avid storytellers.  She is the author of four other books: The Twentieth wife, The feast of roses,  The splendor of silence and Shadow Princess.

The village bride of Beverley Hills by Kavita Daswani

Daswani, Kavita. The village bride of Beverley Hills. New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, c2004.

Priya, a young Indian woman moves from Bombay to Los Angeles after knowing the man for only a week.  Though she lives in the land of movie stars and happy endings, Priya’s circumstances are far from perfect. 

Priya moves in with her husband’s family.  Sanjay is the devoted son to conservative parents.  When Priya does not fall pregnant, Sanjay’s parents demand she find a job.  Priya finds one as a receptionist to a fashion magazine - the tabloid Hollywood Insider. So begins the ‘double life’ of Priya.  She is the go-getter at work, and the subservient daughter-in-law at home.  She hinds her work clothes at the local gym.  Priya with her energy and enthusiasm soon advances in her career and becomes a journalist. The ‘double standard’ takes its toll on Priya, and just before her first wedding anniversary, she arrives at her family’s home back in India.

This book is a great read as it narrates the immigrant experience.  Priya’s disintegrating marriage remains more important to her than fame and fortune.  This aspect of the novel provides a refreshing twist and readers are kept interested to find out what will happen next.

Critics have acclaimed it as Chick lit meets Indian diaspora and cutely titled it as Hybrid.  

Kavita Daswani is an Indian-American author.  She grew up in Hong Kong and started her career as a journalist with the South China Morning Post.  Kavita has written two other books which are Salam Paris and For matrimonial purposes.

Karma and other stories by Rishi Reddi

Reddi, Rishi. Karma and other stories, New York : Harper Collins, 2007.

This collection of short stories focuses on the Indian diaspora living in the US – struggling to reconcile the culture differences between their cultural heritage and the American life.  Predominantly, generational differences are the causes of conflict.

 In the story “Bangles”, a successful American doctor, tries to fulfil filial duty by bringing his newly widowed mother from Hyderabad to his modern home.  Conflicts arise when he fails to create a niche in his modern life for the religious and cultural needs of his mother.

 In “The Validity of Love” a rebellious yet fragile young woman, must learn to “internalise” traditional ideas of arranged marriage, on realising her best friend has agreed to an arranged marriage 

 Reddi very skilfully uses images to capture the essence of these themes. Glass bangles smashed with a rock; a wounded bird confused with Boston’s skyscrapers.

Rishi Reddi is an American author, who was born in Hyderabad, India.  She grew up in the UK and US.  She graduated from Swarthmore College and the Northeaster university School of Law.  Alongside her writing career, she has been an enforcement attorney for the state and federal environmental protecion agencies. Her book karmar and other Stories received the 2007 L.L Winship/PEN New England Award.

Motherland by Vineeta Vijayaraghavan

Vijayaraghavan, Vineeta. Motherland, New York : soho Press, c2001.

 

This is a refreshing novel, where an American teenager of Indian ethnicity spends the summer with her relatives in southern India.  Maya spent her first four years with her family, where she was cared by her Ammamma (grandmother).

 She then returns to the extended family, when she is 15, as her parent’s marriage is going through a ‘rough’ patch.  On this occasion, Maya is very aware of the cultural differences – the sphere of men and women and the persistence of caste system.  She is also irritated by the attentions of Ammamma.  However,  due to an accident which Maya suffers, she is nursed by Ammamma and they grow close and finds out about the family secret that has been kept hidden in the closet.

Ms Vineeta Vijayaraghavan is a  consultant at Katzenbach Paterns, a management consulting firm in New York.  She graduated from Harvard, where she also received an MBA.

Of marriageable age by Sharon Mass

Mass, Sharon. Of marriageable age. London : Harper Collins, 1999

This is a great story of forbidden love – a 1990s Far Pavilions.  The story traces the lives of three people across three decades and three continents.  Savitri, discerning and charming is brought up among the servants of a pre-war English household in India.  Both her family and the English households are torn apart by the racial upheavals and Savitri’s love for the son of the household.

Then there is Nataraj, raised as the son of an idealistic country doctor, finds life in London heady access to girls and money.  This inevitably leads him to drop out of his family circle and medical studies.  However, fate has something else planned for him – he discovers news about his parentage.

Sarojini, outspoken is brought up in Guyana, belonging to a group of rich Indian families who have settled there.  She rebels against her strict parents.  


Sharon Maas was born in Georgetown, Guyana and was eduacted both in Guyana and in the UK .  Her mixed ancestry of African, Amerindian, Dutch and British adds texture to the complexity of themes in her works.  Her other novels include  Peacocks dancing and The speech ofn Angels.

.

The groom to have been by Saher Alam

Alam, Saher. The groom to have been, New York : Spiegel & Gran, 2008.

Nassir Siddiqui hails from a progressive yet traditional Muslim Indian family.  At 30 years of age,  living in New York and allows his parents to arrange a marriage.  The extended family’s help is drawn upon to find a suitable bride for Nassir.  After meeting with several prospective brides, Nassir finally select Farah Ansari from a conservative family and wedding preparations begin in earnest.  However, Nassir now has doubts as to whether he should have selected his childhood friend Jameela, a modern woman of the 21^st century. 

Saher Alam is able to portray the confusion Nassir feels as his wedding date approaches and the disappointment he feels when his childhood friend Jameela marries.  Events of September 11, removes Jameela and her husband Javaid to Pakistan.  To Nassir, this means his further romance with Jameela is impossible.  The author also provides valuable insights into how people assimilate and compromise between cultures.

Saher Alam is a graduate of Princeton university, USA.  Her novel, The groom to have been, won the 2008 janet Heidinger Kafka Prize.

Bodies in motion by Mary Ann Mohanraj

Mohanraj, Mary Ann. Bodies in motion. New York : Harper Collins Publishers, 2005.

This is a collection of twenty stories and most of them span the 20^th century concerning several Sri Lankan families.  The stories cover the distress caused by being exile and the breaking down of tradition.

It is a family saga covering several generations and how lives of many are inter woven.

The story opens with a couple’s decision to let their brilliant daughter Shanthi pursue her studies in Oxford.  The family is already in crisis mode after their eldest daughter’s marriage failed as she returned home due to domestic violence.  Shanthi emerges 16 years later in “The Princess in the Forest,” married to a University of Chicago professor, who is unfaithful to her.  And so the saga continues with the introduction of Shanthi’s daughter and her pursuits in life.  The story reveals the racial tensions in Sri Lanka and how the lives of many are caught up in it.

Mary Anne Mohanrah was born in Sri Lanka and raised in the US.  She has a very illustrious academic career and several years of teaching English in numerous acedemic institutions.  Her novel Bodies in motion, received an honourable mention from the 2007 Asian American Literary Awards and was named in  USA Today Notable Book journal. Her other tow collections are: Torn shapes of desire and Silence of the word.

The Mango season by Amulya Malladi

Malladi, Amulya. The mango season, New York : Ballantine Books,2003.

When a young Indian leaves for the West, the parents fear the worst – they will lose all their traditional values and their worst fear is materialised – their child marries a “white” person.  So when Priya left India to study in the U.S, the same fears were harboured by her parents too.  Now seven years later, Priya returns home to give her family the news that she is engaged to Nick Collins, a kind and loving American.

Her trip back home is very overwhelming for Priya.  She recalls her youth – the summers, when sweet ripe mangoes were in season.  However, on her return, the unbearable heat of the summer gets to her.  Everything looks more rustic and primitive to her.  Nothing seems to have changed and so too does Priya’s relatives.  Her parents insist they arrange a marriage to a “nice Indian boy”.  Her extended family constantly refer to the marriage of her uncle Anand, who married a woman from another Indian state and that too for love.  Her grandparents and parents do not view the basis of a marriage to be one based on love and happiness.  Duty is the driving force behind marriage.  Under these circumstances, Priya feels loathe to break her news.

The author takes the reader on a delightful trip into contemporary India and a woman on the threshold of immense change in her life.

Amulya Malladi was born in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, India.  After graduating in electronics engineering, she did her master's degree in journalism from the University of Mephis. She worked as an online edition for a high-tech publishing house in San Francisco and then a marketing manager for a software company in the Silicone Valley.  After living in the US for several years, she now resides in Copenhagen with her family. Her other novels are:  A breath of fresh air, Serving crazy with curry, Song of the Cukoo bird and Sound of language.

Love marriage by V.V. Ganeshanathan.

Ganeshanathan, V.V. Love marriage. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks,c2008.

This novel spans several generations, who have been affected by the civil war in Sri Lanka.  It portrays how an extended family copes with displacement. There is Yalini, daughter of Sri Lanakan parents, Vani and Murali, whose youth has been spent carrying the guilt of her family’s secrets.

Yalini examines her relatives’ marriages and tries to make some sense of their alliances and also find out as to why her own life has been so unsettled.  She finds out her own parents fell in love in New York and escaped an arrange marriage.  Each of her relative has their own story to tell.  Most of her relatives’ marriages are arranged – some good and some that have continued, even when should not have.

The author is able to provide an insight to the lives of people, prior to being displaced and becoming an immigrant.  The emotional scars they brought with them to their new homeland and the compromises they made to adjust to a new society and culture.  Interesting read for students wanting to know more about the ethnic war fare in Sri Lanka and the tensions between family members when they don’t subscribe to the same political ideology.

V.V. Ganeshananthan, a fiction writer and journalist, is a graduate of Harvard College,  the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and the M.A. program at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. andom House published her first novel, Love Marriage, in April 2008. The book was longlisted for the Orange Prize and named one of Washington Post Book World’s Best of 2008.

The Immigrant by Manju Kapur

Kapur, Manju. The immigrant, London : Faber & Faber, c2008.
.

The author, Manju Kapur delicately unravels the story of this desperate but moving marriage. Nina, a thirty year old English lecturer, lives with her widowed mother.  After several attempts to arrange a marriage for Nina, a marriage is arranged with Ananda, a family acquaintance living in Canada. 

Nina questions whether she can give up her home and career, to build a new life in Canada with a husband she barely knows.

Ananda left India as a young man in Halifax, Canada after the demise of his parents.  In his new adopted country, he trains as a dentist.  Although Ananda has worked hard in assuming a Canadian identity, he is not able to accept marriage with a Canadian woman.  A marriage is arranged with Nina.  On arrival in Canada, Nina learns to adjust to the new western life.  Ananda appears to have embraced all the hallmarks of western culture.  Nina realises the consequences of her marriage are far greater than she ever had imagined.  

As her relationship with Ananda unfolds, she comes to terms with certain unpalatable truths about her marriage.  She finds a part time job as a ‘shelver’ in the local library and meets Beth who introduces to a “women’s group” When her marriage appears to be unsatisfying, she turns to this group for help and support.  Nina realises that there is more to life for a woman other than marriage being a wife and mother. Nina decides to pursue her dreams and embarks on further studies – decides to undertake a degree in Librarianship.  Following this dream also opens doors to other relationships and how she copes with these challenges.

A must read book for all those wanting to know more about how immigrants copes with new environments and deal with cross culture undercurrents. 

Manju Kapur is a professor of English at Miranda House in New Delhi.  Her first book Difficult daughters received the Commonwealth Award for Eurasian region.  She lives in India with her three daughters.

The book The Immigrant was shortlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature.  Her other works include A married woman, Home & Custody.

Desirable daughters by Bharati Mukherjee

Mukhergee, Bharati. Desirable daughters. New York : Theia, c2002.

This is a story about 3 sister of traditional Brahmin upper class family, born in Calcutta and now living in the West. The youngest of the three, grew up in a elite Bengali environment, which wavered between traditional Hinduisms and secular technocracy.  

She married a computer engineer and is well settled in Silicon Valley.  Tara the second daughter was sufficiently “Americanised” to end her marriage in divorce and live with her son in San Francisco.  However, the plot thickens when a young man named Chris Dey shows up at her door step claiming to be the illegitimate son of her older sister Padma and bearing an introduction from Ron Dey. Tara goes to the police to further investigate this claim and finds this is a hoax.

The story has a good mix of suspense and an atmosphere of textured family saga.

Bharati Mukherjee is of Bengali origin.  She received her education in India and later in the United states.  After living a decade in Canada, she and her spouse returned to live in the US. Her other novels are: The Tiger's daughter, Wife, Jasmine, The holder of the world and Leave it to me.