Desirable Daughters : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: A Five for Exposure to Diversity and Different Culture
Review: A four because I am so ignorant that I could not grasp the cultured references and could not find footnotes to help me get past my ignorance.

I am the type of reader that has to have an intriguing beginning a few pages between that keep me interested, a plot that holds me for the middle, a few pages to hold me until the end and a soft, mild, or strong ending. I think the author was attempting this and for this a four point five is well deserving.

I have more to read on this one but feel that I am enjoying it for it being different than the normal so called best seller.

Books also enjoying; 'The Secret Life of Bees' by Sue Monk Kidd and 'Hemorrhage in My Head' by NMR

Rating:
Summary: Our book group recommends it, but with reservations
Review: I am the moderator for a Washington, D.C. literature discussion group, and am writing to share our thoughts on the book. With one strong exception, group members liked the book and would recommend it to others. The consensus was that it was well written, some parts were laugh-out-loud funny, and those who have read other Indian writers might recognize Desirable Daughters within that post-colonial style.

We all agreed, however, that the author may have covered too much territory on the immigration story -- entrepreneurship, religion, education, parenting, cultural values, gender and patriarchy, class, Western vs. East Asian ideology, etc. etc. There was sooo much there that one person pointed out that it seemed to be more a collection of short stories than a unified novel. Another person suggested that a strong editor could have helped her better narrow her focus to a key storyline (even though we disagreed on which of those story lines would have been the best read).

The multiple stories also meant that there was weak character development. All of us did not like the "illegitimate son" story introduced by the Christopher Dey character. It read like a poorly scripted "whodunit." Further, new characters appeared in the book simply to introduce a subject matter, like homosexuality or the role of the police in immigrant communities. There was no denying that the writing was compelling -- I particularly enjoyed the introduction of the Tree Bride, a character thread that she has continued into a just-released book of the same title. However, many of those threads were not neatly tied together in the end, including the thin thread tying together the Tree Bride-Tara and the modern day Tara.

In summary, Desirable Daughters is a good read, if you read it as a collection of enjoyable vignettes and do not place too much emphasis on deeply plumbed characters.


Rating:
Summary: Silly story with annoying characters
Review: I was rather disappointed by this book by Bharati Mukherjee. I found the plot to be melodramatic and contrived. Not that a billionaire wouldn't be the target of scams and violence, but somehow in this story, it didn't ring true. The fact that no one in Tara's life was the least bit concerned by the appearance of the shady stranger, Chris, seems unbelievable. It's almost as though no one cared that Tara might be hurt.

Being of Indian origin, I have known many Indian mothers in my time, and I know that very few of them would stand for Rabi's condescending and contemptful way of talking to Tara as passively as she did. Also, I understand Tara's desire to be modern and open-minded, but the fact that she accepted her son's homosexuality so calmly, without a single thought as to how other Indians would view him, is completely unrealistic. Even if she herself were "cool" enough to handle the fact, she would know other Indians, including her parents and sisters, would not be. The society is not tolerant that way.

What kind of long-term boyfriend leaves after two weeks of discontentment? I was very disappointed by Andy's actions but have to admit, I was glad when Bish reentered Tara's life. Sadly, he was the character I liked the best, and we saw the least of him!

The story had a lot of potential, but it was hard to care about Tara, since she changed her mind with the direction of the wind. In addition, she seemed very weak and uncertain of herself and her desires. This does not necessarily make for a bad character, but I found myself unable to sympathize very deeply with Tara.

I could relate to Tara's didi Padma much more, although her superficiality made her hard to like. She represents the Indian desire to have it all while refusing to acknowledge that there might be any other way of life. I've known many like that in real life.

Parvati's devotion to her dogs was nothing short of incredible; she didn't even care when they attacked her nephew! Unfortunately, I've also met people like that.

The story is readable, if you will, and it does provide some insight into Bengali life. It even has its amusing moments, but I can't say I loved it. I'm not even sure I liked it.

Rating:
Summary: Silly story with annoying characters
Review: I was rather disappointed by this book by Bharati Mukherjee. I found the plot to be melodramatic and contrived. Not that a billionaire wouldn't be the target of scams and violence, but somehow in this story, it didn't ring true. The fact that no one in Tara's life was the least bit concerned by the appearance of the shady stranger, Chris, seems unbelievable. It's almost as though no one cared that Tara might be hurt.

Being of Indian origin, I have known many Indian mothers in my time, and I know that very few of them would stand for Rabi's condescending and contemptful way of talking to Tara as passively as she did. Also, I understand Tara's desire to be modern and open-minded, but the fact that she accepted her son's homosexuality so calmly, without a single thought as to how other Indians would view him, is completely unrealistic. Even if she herself were "cool" enough to handle the fact, she would know other Indians, including her parents and sisters, would not be. The society is not tolerant that way.

What kind of long-term boyfriend leaves after two weeks of discontentment? I was very disappointed by Andy's actions but have to admit, I was glad when Bish reentered Tara's life. Sadly, he was the character I liked the best, and we saw the least of him!

The story had a lot of potential, but it was hard to care about Tara, since she changed her mind with the direction of the wind. In addition, she seemed very weak and uncertain of herself and her desires. This does not necessarily make for a bad character, but I found myself unable to sympathize very deeply with Tara.

I could relate to Tara's didi Padma much more, although her superficiality made her hard to like. She represents the Indian desire to have it all while refusing to acknowledge that there might be any other way of life. I've known many like that in real life.

Parvati's devotion to her dogs was nothing short of incredible; she didn't even care when they attacked her nephew! Unfortunately, I've also met people like that.

The story is readable, if you will, and it does provide some insight into Bengali life. It even has its amusing moments, but I can't say I loved it. I'm not even sure I liked it.

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time.
Review: I would have trashed it except for the fact that my boyfriend gifted it to me.

Rating:
Summary: A rare and truly unforgettable novel
Review: Some books tell a good story. Some inform and illuminate, providing light and insight into the previously unknown. In Desirable Daughters, Ms. Mukherjee accomplishes these admirable ends and more in an intriguing tale of three sisters and the divergent paths their lives take in the wake of their privileged Brahmin beginnings. Reviews elsewhere on this page delve into the intricacies of plot, so there is no need to cover this ground again. Suffice it to say that the sudden appearance of a suspicious stranger into the storyteller's life serves as the catalyst for an unfolding series of events, encounters and recollections.

Told from the point of view of Tara, the youngest sister, the narrative takes us from Calcutta to San Francisco to Bombay to Jackson Heights, the cultural, historic and geographic details rendered in vivid masterstrokes you will not soon forget. Highlights are many. The opening chapter (despite the irritating overuse of italics). Tara's visits with her sister in a luxury Bombay apartment that overlooks the Arabian Sea-and the terrifying baggage such a lifestyle engenders. The people, the shops and the interplay among the Indian community of Queens. And the unshakeable sense of impending horror Mukherjee deftly weaves throughout the text.

One of the blurbs on the dust jacket comes from Amy Tan. It is easy to understand the reasoning behind the choice, for those who enjoy her work are likely to find much the same pleasure in Bharati Mukherjee and Desirable Daughters. Buy it. Read it. Enjoy it. And be prepared to savor it for a very long time to come.

Rating:
Summary: Unconvincing and disappointing plots
Review: The only reason I finished this book is hoping there might be an interesting and surprising ending that makes sense for all the previous, disjointed threads -- the desirable daughters' high life in india, the attempted extortion/murder, the shady life Didi lead, etc. The ending is more disappointing than the plots lead to it, and makes even less sense.

The characters and their life seem to be "made up", inconsistent and unconvincing. For example, Didi's life is portrayed as an indian "diva" among the affluent Indian American community, but she is practically a sales girl for the jewlers and apperal merchants. I also don't see the echoing between the life of modern day Tara and the ancient tree-bride Tara, yet the author seems to place an emphasize on strong boundage between the two Tara's.

It is just a very strange book.

Rating:
Summary: A Triumph for Mukherjee
Review: This clear-eyed tale of Tara Chatterjee begins in an unlikely place, a forest lit by oil lamps in 1879 as a five-year old bride is led on a palanquin to marry a tree, an ingenious ceremony designed to protect her honor. It soon becomes clear that the narrator of this strange event (and the novel as a whole) is Tara Chatterjee, a divorced single mother living in San Francisco who was named after the Tree-Bride. Tara comes from a prestigious Calcutta family, the Bhattacharjees, the youngest daughter of three, and can trace her ancestry back to the five-year old bride. Now a school aide living with a Buddhist carpenter, Tara's life goes against everything she was raised to be. The only constant is her emotional devotion to her family. When a suspicious man shows up claiming to be the illegitimate son of her oldest sister, however, Tara's understanding of both her sister and the world is shaken. Danger and secrets lurk everywhere, and Tara finds herself alone in the middle of a crowded society as she searches for both truth and security.

This complicated novel examines with startling honesty the prejudices. ambitions, familial ties, and the culture of India primarily as they manifest themselves in contemporary America. Mukherjee accomplishes this tapestry through the likeable, trustworthy voice of Tara. The result is an intimate portrait of a woman in transition. Mukherjee throws out exoticism for candidness, relying not on lyrical prose but on insight. For these reasons, DESIRABLE DAUGHTERS is a refreshing addition to the canon of contemporary Indian literature.

The major flaw of this novel is the contrived full-circle ending. Mukherjee is absolutely brilliant up to this point, and manages to pull off potentially melodramatic material in a sensitive, believable manner. Until the disappointing final section, I would have ranked this book as one of my all-time favorites. The momentum and the emotional drive is lost, and the reader is left with little to hang onto except the final line. Still, what comes before is stunning in its execution.

With its page-turning danger and vibrant description, this novel should appeal to readers who enjoy both plot and thematic depth to their fiction. Especially if you enjoy the works of Jhumpa Lahiri and Anita Desai, you're likely to find yourself engrossed in this wonderful novel.

Rating:
Summary: Extremely dissapointed
Review: Yet another example of this author's unusual talent, Desirable Daughters is storytelling that is, at first, deceptively simple, but builds into a skillful and complicated portrayal of Indian-American life. What begins as a piece of family lore, the tale of an ancestor known as a "tree-bride", finds meaning in familial ties and generational memory.

Growing up in Calcutta, three Bengali sisters are "three peas in a pod". Convent taught, each has lived an exemplary Bengali life, the eldest and youngest, immigrating to America: Tara, the voice of the novel, is divorced from her billionaire husband and raising a teen-aged son; Didi, older than Tara by six years, resides in New Jersey, pursuing a glamorous life as a performance artist, her husband basking in her beauty and accomplishment. Yet the sisters could not be more different in their Americanized lives.

Didi is an enigma, part of the Indo-American glitterati, using the name Padma Mehta (the family name Bhattacherjee too difficult to pronounce) and relentlessly evasive with her sisters, especially Tara. Didi enjoys a kind of anonymity in family matters, evasive and self-protective. Tara gravitates to her middle sister, Parvati, married to a Bengali Brahmin. Parvati's family lives in a spectacular fifteenth floor high-rise overlooking the Arabian Sea; far below, the poor cobble together makeshift shelters along the water's edge, a reminder of Calcutta's dire poverty.

Determinedly parenting her son, Rabi, in San Francisco, Tara indulges in a live-in affair with a red-breaded, Buddhist ex-biker. When the sisters speak, they have developed a pattern of superficiality, dictated by expensive telephone rates and infrequent personal contact. "The whole point of these phantom family reunions is to stop time when we were... three pretty virgins in pastel saris chatting about their days in Calcutta." Tara's son sees these mindless dialogs as an excuse to cling to a past that no longer exists.

A young man approaches Tara, calling her the familiar "auntie", bearing identification papers from his father. "Christopher" requests a meeting with Didi, whom he swears is his birth mother, although he doesn't have her address or phone number. Unconvinced, Tara tries to communicate with her older sister, but Didi refuses to consider such a ridiculous assertion. Christopher is daily more adamant and Tara resorts to other measures, including a clandestine visit to the police department.

No assumption, no relationship is left untouched as Tara's contentment is shattered, her family stalked by menace. Shaken out of her complacency, Tara's life has developed a fault line that will ultimately affect her son, ex-husband and eldest sister in a brilliant and convoluted plot characteristic of this author. The shallow inter-continental relationships of the three sisters are exposed to harsh reality. With utter simplicity and cunning, Mukherjee offers a fictional feast, rich in cultural detail and the endless complications of love and belonging. Luan Gaines/ 2003.