A clash of hearts and cultures set against the divergent backdrops of rural India and downtown San Francisco.
Handsome anesthesiologist Neel prides himself on his decisiveness, both in and out of the operating room. So when he agrees to return to India to visit his ailing grandfather, he is sure he’ll be able to resist his family’s pleas that he marry a “good” Indian girl. With a girlfriend and a promising career back in San Francisco, the last thing Neel needs is an arranged marriage. Leila is a thirty-year-old teacher in Neel’s family’s village who has watched too many prospective husbands come and go to think her newest suitor will be any different. She is well past prime marrying age; her family has no money for a dowry; and then there’s the matter of an old friendship with a Muslim boy named Janni. Neel and Leila struggle to reconcile their own desires with the expectations of others in this riveting story of two people, two countries, and two ways of life that may be more compatible than they seem.
A Good Indian Wife: A Novel
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Browse the best books of summer including blockbusters, beach reads, and editors' picks in our Summer Reading Store. |
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
Suneel Sarath was born in India, but he is completely Americanized. A Stanford graduate, he is now an anesthesiologist in a San Francisco hospital, owns a condo, and even has a girlfriend from Wisconsin. So he is stunned when, despite his best efforts to be independent, he finds himself returning from a visit to his home village with a “good” Indian bride his parents picked for him. Teacher Leila, though pretty, is a spinster by village standards, and she’s thrilled with her new husband. But Neel remains shocked and in denial and goes on with his routine, leaving Leila to fend for herself in her new world. But sooner or later he has to face his wife, find a halfway point between his rural Indian heritage and urban America life, and decide if Leila is more to him than just part of a contract his parents agreed on. Cherian’s debut novel adds new dimension to the concept and experience of an arranged marriage, and considers such complex and salient issues as immigration and assimilation. --Hilary Hatton
Review
Anne Cherian appears to be channeling Jane Austen in her wonderful novel A Good Indian Wife. Set in contemporary America and India, the book celebrates the cultural customs and idiosyncratic human nature that work in combination to create love, family, and identity. And like Austen, the writer ever-so-gently challenges the reader's expectations and assumptions about the nature of romance and fidelity. --Antonya Nelson, author of Some Fun and Female Trouble
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
44 of 51 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Cherian's engaging novel melds the diverse cultures of two countries, San Francisco anesthesiologist Suneel Sarath unable to bridge his bifurcated life, successful California physician and dutiful son of Indian parents who expect him to embrace family tradition and choose an Indian wife. Neel, as he prefers to be called in his modern incarnation, returns to the family home in rural India when he learns his grandfather is gravely ill. Soon after his arrival, Neel is enmeshed with his family's machinations, a well-planned effort to match him with an appropriate bride. With no intention of cooperating beyond the most cursory level of social contact, Neel's calculated appeasement backfires; he finds himself wed to thirty-year-old Leila, a teacher of English literature who long ago reconciled herself to spinsterhood. Convinced her dream of marriage and family will never come true, Leila is amazed when the impossible happens, wed to a handsome, if emotionally distant man.
Of course nothing is ever as simple as it appears. While Leila adapts to the idea of the exciting adventures awaiting her in America, Neel has other problems; he has a tangled past, unfinished business only made more complicated by his marriage. There is a long-term girlfriend waiting in San Francisco, Neel's life far removed from the Indian childhood he left behind. Success has allowed unexpected freedoms on the West Coast, including a blonde beauty far from the conventional standards of his family's expectations. Meanwhile, Leila has no idea why her romantic dreams fail to reach fruition, Neel withdrawn and uncommunicative, juggling the real-time problems of married life with a demanding girlfriend who has long harbored her own fantasies of the future. The spirited and independent Leila, confused by her husband's intractability, tries to accommodate Neel's temperament, plagued with self-doubts and vague suspicions.
The author has crafted an elegant, poignant novel that is a joy to read, capturing the characters' intricacies, hopes and disappointments. Both women in Neel's life delude themselves, making excuses for behavior they don't understand. Neel temporizes, caught between two worlds, the familiarity of his Indian heritage at odds with modern Western culture, rebelling at the repression of generations. The very American girlfriend is sadly predictable, tolerating Neel's wife until she becomes an unacceptable threat, Leila full of surprises, discovering her voice in this unfamiliar place where new friends think her beautiful and interesting. The usual problems of early marriage weigh upon this couple, exacerbated by pride and misunderstanding. In a fascinating mating dance that draws the pair together, while at the same time pushing them apart, love planted in foreign soil blooms in the city by the bay. Luan Gaines/ 2008.
Of course nothing is ever as simple as it appears. While Leila adapts to the idea of the exciting adventures awaiting her in America, Neel has other problems; he has a tangled past, unfinished business only made more complicated by his marriage. There is a long-term girlfriend waiting in San Francisco, Neel's life far removed from the Indian childhood he left behind. Success has allowed unexpected freedoms on the West Coast, including a blonde beauty far from the conventional standards of his family's expectations. Meanwhile, Leila has no idea why her romantic dreams fail to reach fruition, Neel withdrawn and uncommunicative, juggling the real-time problems of married life with a demanding girlfriend who has long harbored her own fantasies of the future. The spirited and independent Leila, confused by her husband's intractability, tries to accommodate Neel's temperament, plagued with self-doubts and vague suspicions.
The author has crafted an elegant, poignant novel that is a joy to read, capturing the characters' intricacies, hopes and disappointments. Both women in Neel's life delude themselves, making excuses for behavior they don't understand. Neel temporizes, caught between two worlds, the familiarity of his Indian heritage at odds with modern Western culture, rebelling at the repression of generations. The very American girlfriend is sadly predictable, tolerating Neel's wife until she becomes an unacceptable threat, Leila full of surprises, discovering her voice in this unfamiliar place where new friends think her beautiful and interesting. The usual problems of early marriage weigh upon this couple, exacerbated by pride and misunderstanding. In a fascinating mating dance that draws the pair together, while at the same time pushing them apart, love planted in foreign soil blooms in the city by the bay. Luan Gaines/ 2008.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By B. Fryer
Format:Hardcover
Anne Cherian manages to write successfully in multiple 'tongues' -- from those of her protagonists, Leila and Neel, whose arranged marriage leaves them facing a communication gulf is as wide as the distance between 1980's San Francisco and a village in India. The result is very good, particularly for a first novel.
I loved "being" in India and, though some readers might trip over Cherian's use of foreign language, I found it lovely to deduce the meanings (more than once, I found myself salivating over the detailed descriptions of Indian food). And I loved being in 1980's San Francisco (in fact, having lived there then, I found the rendering mightily evocative.)
The novel is indeed Jane-Austinish, particularly in the slowly-evolving opening and the "who's marrying whom?" mystery, but it takes off in the middle and is a real nail-biter all the way to the last page. If you like Austin but want a break from 19th-century England, this is quite a treat. The novel cries out for a sequel -- I long to see what happens as Leila becomes ever more self-confident and independent in her new country.
I loved "being" in India and, though some readers might trip over Cherian's use of foreign language, I found it lovely to deduce the meanings (more than once, I found myself salivating over the detailed descriptions of Indian food). And I loved being in 1980's San Francisco (in fact, having lived there then, I found the rendering mightily evocative.)
The novel is indeed Jane-Austinish, particularly in the slowly-evolving opening and the "who's marrying whom?" mystery, but it takes off in the middle and is a real nail-biter all the way to the last page. If you like Austin but want a break from 19th-century England, this is quite a treat. The novel cries out for a sequel -- I long to see what happens as Leila becomes ever more self-confident and independent in her new country.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By S. Y. Chin
Format:Hardcover
Cherian writes an unlikely modern-day fairy tale about two sympathetic and authentic characters caught up in a series of cultural expectations and compromises. The story is set in the contemporary global context, where the fluid flows of people, knowledge and cultures across borders create seemingly unlikely unions. The premise of the marriage is such that the reader feels like s/he is watching a fatal accident unfold in slow motion. The twists and turns that the novel takes, replete with cultural mis-steps and misunderstandings, make it a fun and compelling read.
It's a page turner, and I'd recommend it highly.
It's a page turner, and I'd recommend it highly.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Good Indian Story
I really enjoyed this pleasant story about Indian matchmaking.Although it was a light read,it contained much reality about arranged marriges and free choice. Read more
Published 1 month ago by L.I. LINDA
5.0 out of 5 stars
fun and interesting
This book was a fun read and interesting as it gave me a glimpse into the world or arranged marriages. It isn't heavy or intellectural just fun.
Published 2 months ago by Cheryl Garcia
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good
Good read. Tries to capture the pains that women go through in this globalized world and the implications associated with it. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Pmp Kannan
3.0 out of 5 stars
A good Indian Wife
This is a very interesting novel and easy reading but I find it some what dated. Again it depends on how much of a bckground you have on the subject. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Hermeine D. Ehlers
5.0 out of 5 stars
Anne Cherian is my new favorite author!!
I have read many books about India and have come to love their food, their history, their culture. But, this is my favorite because of the new aspects I learned about India... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Janna Whitehead
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great read!
The simplicity of the characters makes it so easy to relate to. I would definitely recommend this book. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Monika Patel
4.0 out of 5 stars
Quick read
Different culture, interesting. At times frustrating to see what the females go through but as the story unfolds, you get a better understanding. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Go Lightly
1.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing, full of hypocrisies..
I was skeptical when I read that this was about a good Indian wife who manages to win her husband back and the book just proved me right. Read more
Published 5 months ago by B. Arunachalam
4.0 out of 5 stars
Culturally educating...
This book was a great introduction into the Indian culture and provides an indepth look into the values of family loyalty, respect and the traditions of arranged marriages, which... Read more
Published 6 months ago by L. Forman
4.0 out of 5 stars
The double meaning of 'good'...
I enjoyed this book. I found the characters engaging and realistic. The author was able to convince me that a 'modern' Indian woman from a small town in India who is highly... Read more
Published 6 months ago by linny-jay
