Arranged Marriage [Paperback]

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1997

The possibility of change, of starting anew, in this stunning beautiful and poignant collection of short stories, is at once terrifying and filled with promise.For those Indian-born women living new lives in America, independence is a mixed blessing.It means walking the tightrope between old treasured beliefs and surprising newfound desires, and understanding the emotions which that conflict brings.Together these stories create a tapestry of existence as colourful, as delicate and as enduring as the finest silk sari.

Editorial Reviews

From 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 naive 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.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From 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
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 307 pages
• Publisher: Black Swan (February 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0552996696
• ISBN-13: 978-0552996693
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.8 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,658,301 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's acclaimed novels for adults include the bestselling The Mistress of Spices, soon to be a motion picture. Her previous book for young readers, The Conch Bearer, was a Booklist Editors' Choice, Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, and is a 2005 Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee. She teaches creative writing at the University of Houston and lives with her husband and two sons in Sugarland, Texas.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Short story collection of Indian women in India and America, September 21, 2003

By 

Peggy Vincent "author and reader" (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Arranged Marriage (Hardcover)

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's award-winning books continue to stun her readers with their illumination of the lives of Indian women in both India and America. No other Indian writer has offered such an excellent perspective of life between and within these two cultures.
Whether describing the plight of a woman trapped in an abusive marriage in India or the quick adjustments required of an immigrant bride in California, she cracks open the inner lives of her characters, revealing the disappointments and dreams in a way that makes them appear universal. In language that rings with authenticity and the sounds and rhythms of the Indian people, her books are full of rich imagery. You can almost smell the tumeric, see the saffron robes, hear the finger bells, and taste the cardamom and the curry.
Arranged Marriage, a short story collection, is a good place for readers new to Divakaruni to begin to appreciate her; it a lovely addition to the bookshelves of those who already count her as one of our most important contemporary authors.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars good issues, but repetitive, April 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Arranged Marriage: Stories (Paperback)

The author did a good job writing about issues that seem to be very real for Indian women, but each story seemed to stem from the same root. There was always a young Indian woman who was usually the main character of the tale. She had usually come from Calcutta, and was living in the states, in the Bay Area in CA. She always had some sort of emotional tie to her Indian upbringing or family; this was what brought on the conflict. Then the conflict, a stray child, a live-in boyfriend, marriage, racial issues, etc........and though each of these were different, the women would always handle them the same: with small vigor in the beginning, but then they would become depressed and at the end of the story, the conflict would end with some sort of realization about how they should have handled the situation. The book had some good stories with good lessons for life, but after a while they became predictable and boring because of the author's repetitiveness.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Tales with one moral: all Indian men are heartless, October 2, 2002

By 

Morgan R. Smock - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Arranged Marriage: Stories (Paperback)

Ms. Divakaruni draws the inner life of her female protaganists with true skill and love, and her tales are worth reading for this alone. Alas, the author apparently has known only one type of Indian man--a heartless, emotionally distant male who, no matter his initial appearances, views women as property. I have no experience with Indian culture, but find it difficult to believe every Indian man is as the author portrays; it seems pretty apparent this young author is projecting her own broken heart into all these stories.