Blind Faith [Paperback]

Sagarika Ghose (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2006

When Mia, acutely depressed by the suicide of her father, meets Karna, a young Indian guru who seems to have walked straight out of her fathers painting of the Kumbh Mela, she feels compelled to follow him all the way from London to India. And if marrying Vik, the suave corporate, will help her reach him, then so be it ... In India, Mia hears of Indi, Viks accomplished, inordinately attractive mother who cannot cease raging against the limits imposed on her, by her blindness, her beauty, and her clinging son. To make sense of Indis anguished attempts to break free, and her own journey chasing a duplicitous love, Mia must travel to the Kumbh, to the heart of her fathers painting, where life, she learns, allows another perspectivea stunningly beautiful account of lifes distorted perceptions: of reason that blinds, of hate that liberates and of love that strangles.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the second novel from Ghose (The Gin Drinkers), Mia Bhagat is a 28-year-old London-based Bengali reeling from the inexplicable suicide of her Marxist-turned-Mystic father. Her job as a TV reporter introduces her to Karna, an initiate of the conservative, utopian Purification Journey Brotherhood (men should fight the female ego) who's also the spitting image of a figure from her late father's painting of the Kumbh Mela, or Ganga River Festival of the Pitcher. Mia falls for him hard, but her mother arranges a marriage to a kind cosmetics entrepreneur named Vik Ray, with whom Mia moves to New Delhi. There, she enters the whirlwind of her husband's extravagant parties and secretly waits for Karna. A subplot follows the character arc of Vik's brilliant, beautiful and blind mother, Indi, from her childhood in Delhi to retirement in Goa. Ghose evokes the Indian settings with a wonderful tactility, and she hones in cuttingly on the sparring desires for love, independence and transcendence. Though the fractured plot's threads weave together too neatly, Ghose, who is an anchor on CNN's Indian affiliate, offers convincing meditations on mysticism vs. rationality and commercial wealth vs. spiritual poverty as they play out for her conflicted lead. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From Booklist

Mia is a young British news journalist of Indian heritage. Her emotional state after her father’s suicide pushes her into a hastily arranged marriage with Vik, a handsome and successful Indian businessman. Vik understands her position more than she realizes and gallantly takes on his role of loving husband. At the same time, Mia forges a new bond with Karna, an earnest Indian guru who bears a striking resemblance to a subject from one of her father’s paintings. Her strong feelings for Karna compromise her new relationship with Vik, especially when Karna urges her to join him at the Maha Kumbha Mela, the largest and most sacred of Hindu pilgrimages. As Mia finds herself inexorably drawn to Karna, she contemplates her future with Vik. Her ultimate decision is defined by her relocation to India, where the contrasts of light and dark, ancient and modern, and Occident and Orient create an unavoidable collision between the star-crossed lovers. Liberally blurring lines between continents and generations, Blind Faith is a beautiful and dizzying take on India in glorious Technicolor. --Catherine English --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 274 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (September 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 8172235674
• ISBN-13: 978-8172235673
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars interesting glimpse at a changing India, March 6, 2008

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blind Faith: A Novel (P.S.) (Paperback)

In London twenty-eight years old TV reporter Mia Bhagat remains in shock that her seemingly healthy father committed suicide. The Bengali expatriate uses her work to somewhat ignore her grief. While on an assignment, Mia meets Karna, an instructor at the Purification Journey Brotherhood where men learn how to conquer the female ego. He could have been the model for her father's painting of the Kumbh Mela Festival of the Pitcher.

Mia falls in love with Karna, but her mother orchestrates a marriage for her with cosmetics businessman Vik Ray. Following their nuptials, the pair moves to his home office in New Delhi where she hosts his galas while praying that her Karna will soon come for her.

Although the above description is like the Ganges River, there are several major tributaries not described above that add depth to this insightful look at modern day India through the comparisons between and the interrelationships of a strong cast. Somewhat confused, Mia holds the threads together. Readers will enjoy the focus on materialism vs. spiritualism and heritage vs. globalization that makes BLIND FAITH an interesting glimpse at a changing India.

Harriet Klausner