A Good Indian Wife: A Novel [Paperback]

Anne Cherian (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 8, 2009

“An absorbing tale of contrasts. . . . Cherian tells the story with quiet strength.” —San Francisco Chronicle

Handsome anesthesiologist Neel is sure he can resist his family’s pleas that he marry a “good” Indian girl. With a girlfriend and a career back in San Francisco, the last thing Neel needs is an arranged marriage. But that’s precisely what he gets. His bride, Leila, a thirty-year-old teacher, comes with her own complications. They struggle to reconcile their own desires with others’ expectations in this story of two people, two countries, and two ways of life that may be more compatible than they seem.

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 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“A lovely testament to the reality that happiness . . . can be found in the least expected of places.” (Atlanta Dunia )

“Engaging and thought provoking; a combination of India and America, tradition and modernity, oneness and individuality. I couldn’t put this book down.” (Story Circle Book Reviews )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition (June 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393335291
• ISBN-13: 978-0393335293
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #71,576 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "In the scheme of marriage, a wedding is just the beginning.", May 16, 2008

By 

Luan Gaines "luansos" (Dana Point, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Good Indian Wife: A Novel (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.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A cross-cultural treat, May 9, 2008

By 

B. Fryer "poetry lover" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Good Indian Wife: A Novel (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.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Against All Odds,, May 6, 2008

By 

S. Y. Chin "Cultural Anthropologist" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Good Indian Wife: A Novel (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.