Jasmine (Paperback)

~ (Author) "LIFETIMES ago, under a banyan tree in the village of Hasnapur, an astrologer cupped his ears-his satellite dish to the star-and foretold my widowhood and..." (more)
Key Phrases: day mummy, weak gravity, New York, Elsa County, Lillian Gordon (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

&quto;Lifetimes ago, under a banyan tree in the village of Hasnapur, an astrologer cupped his ear ... and foretold my widowhood and exile," relates Jyoti, fifth cursed daughter in a family of nine. Though she can't escape fate, Jyoti reinvents herself time and again. She leaves her dusty Punjabi village to marry as Jasmine; travels rough, hidden airways and waters to America to reemerge as Jase, an illegal "day mummy" in hip Manhattan; and lands beached in Iowa's farmlands as Jane, mother to an adopted teenage Vietnamese refugee and "wife" to a banker. Bharati Mukherjee (The Middleman and Other Stories) makes each world exotic, her lyrical prose broken only by the violence Jasmine almost casually recounts and survives. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This novel relates both the odyssey and the metamorphosis of a young immigrant from rural India. Her story is often shocking: the violence of the rape that greets her on her first night in America is certainly no greater than that of the crazed Sikh extremists who made her a widow at age 17 in India. Yet neither the character nor her story is held back by this violence. Along the way Jaze acquires three children, including Du, a Vietnamese boy who like herself is an immigrant. Finally, still only in her early twenties, Jaze takes off to pursue her own version of the American dream. The novel has a delicious humor and sexiness that make it a treat to read. The author is this year's winner of the National Book Critics Circle fiction award for The Middleman and Other Stories ( LJ 6/1/88).
- Mary Margaret Benson, Linfield Coll. Lib., McMinnville, Ore.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press; 1ST edition (April 5, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802136303
• ISBN-13: 978-0802136305
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #48,853 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful and honest, July 22, 2005

By	Genevieve Roman (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I read this book in a literature class on the PostColonial Indian Novel. It has been a while since I read it but I will relate that this book is very special because it is as quick and fun to read as a light beach read, while at the same time dealing with very serious topics and being incredibly moving. This is RARE in a novel.
Jasmine is a novel I would recommend to anyone, it is so beautiful (some of the quotes I have memorized, even!) I didn't ever want it to end... and it unfortunately takes only a couple hours to read!
The story is of a woman who starts out in a very small village in India and eventually is married to a progressive Indian man who convinces her to think for herself and break away from the feudal ideals that make her think she must be nothing but a subservient baby maker/house keeper. Her husband is murdered early in their marriage and Jasmine, who is turning into a real fighter, makes a terrible and unforgettable trip to America to honor her husband's memory. The rest is history as Jamine finds her way and searches personal fulfillment and self-actualization... she becomes to some extent assimilated in this process, though she always carries her past along with her.

And I can attest to the fact that it is not simply a women's novel: my boyfriend and I read this together and he fell in love with the book too!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars On Becoming an American Woman, October 19, 2000

By	George Schaefer (Croydon, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This novel is a really moving tale. This is my first time reading Mukherjee's writing but it won't be the last. I found it to be a compelling read from start to finish. The story of how a young Indian girl becomes an American is intriguing. The evolution of Jyoti into Jasmine into Jane is gripping. I enjoyed the way Mukherjee wove this tale. She includes flashbacks to her past to let the reader see the past of Jasmine. It allows for empathy as the reader is led through the tragedies of her early life. Her resolve is extraordinary. She has to overcome the murder of her husband, terrorism in her homeland, a rape and many other hardships along the way. You can see how different events shape her views and attitudes. She begins to think and act for herself. There is sorrow and pain on the way but it is ultimately a tale of liberation. It's another example of the indomitable human spirit. Definitely a book that should be widely read.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A gripping, masterfully written work of fiction., February 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Jasmine (Mass Market Paperback)

This book had a profound effect on me, despite the fact that I generally avoid the theme of the immigrant experience. In any case, the book succeeds in integrating so many completely diverse settings... Iowa, an impoverished Indian village, New York, Florida... This is done quite artfully; the book is simple to read and not too hard to understandl it achieves depth with simple language, which is always pleasing. Reading it for the first time was somewhat shocking - every new development in the plot is marred with violence stemming from some bizzare twist of fate. Despite all this, a sense of hope is conveyed in a way that is not artificial, and sustained all throughout. Nonetheless, it paints a disturbing picture of traditional India: the caste system, the miserable status of women, the horrors facing a widow, the overall poverty and pervading corruption, the religious wars... all this leaves an imprint on Jasmine (the main character) and haunts her even in the States, even in the remote Iowa. The realism with which all this is served to the reader reminds of Stephen Crane's work, especially "Maggie, a Girl of the Streets" (another powerful piece...) Whatever your literary taste, it is likely that you will enjoy this direct, powerful, and eye-opening work. The only reason I withhold the last star is the unexpected and unfulfilling ending, which in my view ruined the integrity that Jasmine built throughout her difficult life journey, which filled me with a certain optimism up to that point. If it was meant as a liberating finale, then the cost of ruining Jasmine's benevolence was too high. But up to the last page, an excellent read.