The Village Bride of Bevery Hills FROM THE PUBLISHER
"After an arranged marriage in India, Priya moves with her husband to Los Angeles, where they share a house with his parents and sister. Playing the traditional daughter-in-law role, Priya is expected to do all the housework and cooking, and - because she doesn't immediately get pregnant - find a job as well." "But the glamorous job she lands isn't at all what her in-laws had in mind. Priya soon finds herself leading a secret double life that she must hide from her disapproving in-laws." All the while, she's growing into a marriage to a man whose loyalty is decidedly torn between his parents and his bride - hardly surprising, given that he met his wife only a week before their wedding. The question is, can this fragile new love survive the pull between tradition and ambition?
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Fairy tale fun bursts from the confines of an arranged Indian marriage in this delectable follow-up to For Matrimonial Purposes (2003) when Priya, the youngest of four unmarried sisters, finds herself the one chosen for matrimony and life across the seas in Beverly Hills. Though she lives in the land of movie stars and happy endings, Priya's marriage is anything but. Her husband, Sanjay, remains far more devoted to his conservative parents than his bride, and they have no compunction about working Priya to the bone. When after a few months her belly remains as flat as ever, they even send her off to get a job. Luck lands her a position as a receptionist at the tabloid Hollywood Insider, and her exotic politeness wins over the red carpet community. Soon she's vaulted to the position of reporter and hobnobbing with the glitterati. The novel's charm derives in large part from grounded details about the immigrant experience. That Priya's disintegrating marriage remains more important to her than fame and fortune gives the story a fresh twist and will have readers longing to know what will happen when the divide between glamorous life and devoted wife becomes too great. Agent, Jodie Rhodes. (Aug.) Forecast: Chick lit meets Indian diaspora lit in this cutely titled hybrid, which should appeal to readers hungering for Lahiri lite or a subcontinental Jane Green. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
A young Indian woman moves from Bombay to Los Angeles after an arranged marriage to a man she's known for a week. Priya is prepared for the hard work she is expected to do when she moves in with her new husband, his parents, and his sister (including all the housework and meal preparation), but she doesn't anticipate the lack of appreciation and respect. Most shocking is that her in-laws demand that Priya get a job when she doesn't become pregnant. Amazingly, Priya finds the energy to perform what is demanded of her and even thrives at an entertainment magazine, where she quickly advances from receptionist to journalist. Priya is soon living a double life, keeping her modern stance at work a secret (she hides her Western work clothes at the gym). When she tires of her situation, she arrives, just shy of her first anniversary, at her family's door back in India. Daswani's (For Matrimonial Purposes) second novel is a quick read with a likable, uncompromising main character, and the happy ending will satisfy romance fans. Recommended for all public libraries.-Karen Core, Enoch Pratt Free Lib., Baltimore Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
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