Arranged Marriage: Stories ANNOTATION
For the young girls and women brought to life in this exquisitely wrought collection of stories, the possibility of change, of starting anew, is at once terrifying and filled with promise. Each story is complete in itself; together they create a tapestry as colorful, as delicate, and as enduring as the finest silk sari.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Although Chitra Divakaruni's poetry has won praise and awards for many years, it is her "luminous, exquisitely crafted prose" (Ms.) that is quickly making her one of the brightest rising stars in the changing face of American literature. Arranged Marriage, her first collection of stories, spent five weeks on the San Francisco Chronicle bestseller list and garnered critical acclaim that would have been extraordinary for even a more established author.For the young girls and women brought to life in these stories, the possibility of change, of starting anew, is both as terrifying and filled with promise as the ocean that separates them from their homes in India. From the story of a young bride whose fairy-tale vision of California is shattered when her husband is murdered and she must face the future on her own, to a proud middle-aged divorced woman determined to succeed in San Francisco, Divakaruni's award-winning poetry fuses here with prose for the first time to create eleven devastating portraits of women on the verge of an unforgettable transformation.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
In this collection of emotionally fraught short stories, poet Divakaruni (Black Candle) relates the travails of Indian women trying to adapt to the often alienating culture of middle-class America. Her mostly young characters-students or brides-are negotiating the schism between Indian values and new possibilities here. In ``Clothes,'' Mita moves from a tiny Indian village to be with her husband, who runs a 7-Eleven in California; after he is murdered in a holdup, Mita questions her nave vision of America. In ``The Word Love,'' an Indian graduate student living in Berkeley with a man named Rex agonizes over whether and how to tell her mother back in India about the relationship. The narrator of ``Affair'' suspects her husband of sleeping with a close friend, realizing eventually that, whether or not her suspicions are correct, her marriage to an old-fashioned, judgmental and bossy man is troubled. Particularly poignant is ``Meeting Mrinal,'' in which Asha, recently deserted by her husband and coping with an adolescent son, lies to a childhood friend, now a successful, independent businesswoman, insisting that her life is fine. In transparently simple language, Divakaruni places her characters at the volatile confluence of two conflicting pressures: the obligation to please traditional husbands and families, and the desire to live modern, independent lives. First serial to Good Housekeeping. (July)
School Library Journal
YA-Most of the 11 women featured in this book live either in India or in the U.S. with husbands chosen for them by their families. Although the stories read like tiny soap operas, there is an appealing pathos to each woman's struggle with a traditional approach to marriage as well as to many men's struggles to survive financially. A theme that runs through all the selections is that once brought up in the tradition, it is difficult to change one's mind-set even as an accommodation to a new culture. For example, Sumita is ecstatic that her new husband is taking her to the United States where they will live on his salary from the 7-11, a store she hears described but may not visit. He promises she can go to college or travel, but until he has the money, she is to stay at home and care for his parents. When the dangers of his work lead to his death, she faces the role of widow, dressed forever in white, living among her in-laws. YAs will especially understand the dilemmas posed, as they must live with them as well.-Ginny Ryder, Lee High School, Springfield, VA
BookList - Donna Seaman
Divakaruni is not only an award-winning poet, she's also a virtuoso short story writer. In this consummate and deeply affecting collection, she explores the vast differences between women's lives in India, the country of her birth, and in the U.S., her country of choice. As the title suggests, these are stories about arranged marriages orchestrated by parents far more concerned with status and skin color than with their daughters' happiness. Several stories, including the spellbindingly dramatic "The Maid Servant's Story," are set in India, but most of Divakaruni's gorgeously rendered stories revolve around the attempt to maintain traditional Indian gender roles in the freewheeling U.S., where even the most obedient and self-negating Indian women discover they can live a far more fulfilling life. These are ravishingly beautiful stories, some profoundly sad, others full of revelation, all unforgettable. Divakaruni not only conveys emotions with stunning accuracy, she also transforms the outer world--every room and article of clothing, every instance of snow, rain, and sunshine--into reflections of the soul.
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