Customer Reviews

Motherland

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

An American never feels more American than when he or she is in a foreign country. In my experience, this is even more true when one "is from" that foreign country. After years of living in the US as a minority, one expects to return to the motherland with a sense of homecoming, a sense of immediate belonging. However, while family and ethnic ties do give you that, there is also, inevitably, a prickly feeling of distinction. Sometimes it's felt in small things, such as in an increased sensitivity to mosquitos or lower dietary tolerances. Other times, it's experienced in a clash of worldviews--over issues such as class, gender roles, or international politics. "Motherland" captures this tension beautifully, in a simple, but moving story about an American teenager who spends a summer in southern India.

I was surprised by how much I loved this novel. This is not a book of unexpected plot twists or particularly perilous situations. The characters are intriguing, but not unusual. The setting is exotic, but rather limited. However, the author's honest depiction of relationships, conversations and observations seduce you into the story and refuse to let you go. I find myself still thinking about this novel in random moments throughout my day.

I found "Motherland" to be a simply delightful book. Maya, the novel's 15-year-old narrator, offers a mix of wry commentary and youthful bewilderment as she leads the reader along her colorful journey towards adulthood. The author has surrounded young Maya with a host of well-drawn secondary characters who round out the novel and give the reader a sense of the broader cultural context against which Maya's story is woven. The tale of Maya's sojourn in India begins as a deceptively straightforward travelogue but does not lack for drama or emotional intensity as matters of family and homeland are brought to the fore. Like a well-crafted Shaker table, "Motherland" possesses a simple beauty that is nonetheless breathtaking. An unpretentious tour-de-force.

I picked this book up, enjoyed it and gave it to my teenage daughter to read. It was a good discussion book for moms/daughters. Neither of us could figure out the hostility in some of the earlier reviews--what's going on in Boston? This book captured the conflicting emotions that fifteen year-olds experience. It may not be a monumental work but it is an unprentious little book--an enjoyable, easy read. It made us interested to know more about India and provoked some interesting discussions about relationships and loss.

Yes, this is the year I finally read (and fell in love with) the Harry Potter series, but this book beats it out!

This is a wonderfully written story from the perspective of a South Indian girl whose childhood was split between her grandmother's house in India and her mother's in the United States. It follows her over the course of her first visit to India after a long time, and through a journey to a more adult understanding of her mother and grandmother. What I liked the best about this book is its genuine feel. Not many authors can recreate the thoughts and interests of a teenage girl on paper as Vijayaraghavan has been able to do. I am astounded that it is this author's first published book and eagerly look forward to her future writings.

Only when I read this touching and simple book, did all the memories of a beutiful childhood come flooding into my heart. I have lived in the USA for 16 years now, and this book has captured the essence of what family means. I too had 2 grandmothers. Both of them showered me with love and attention, much like what Vineeta has written about. Since I have had a similar experience like the main character in the book, it was easy for me to identify with the book. Well done Vineeta, keep it up. Cannot wait for your next book.

I enjoyed the book thoroughly because it brought back memories to me and feelings deep within my soul. These were feelings, that I had forgotten I had for family. Having now lived in the U.S.A for 16 years, I had stopped thinking of my childhood. Vineeta has given us a beautiful insight of her characters and the simplicity of Ammumma's life. This book is to the point, wastes no time and yet, extracts the slow pace of life in the sleepy southern towns beautifully. Keep it up Vineeta and I am eagerly awaiting your next book.

I started reading Motherland on Sunday evening, which was a grave mistake. I couldn't put it down until I finished the whole story in the early hours of Monday morning. I was enchanted by the harmony of simple family life and the beauty of the exotic, far away country. I was fascinated by the details of everyday life, of mundane activities like brushing hair or taking a bath. It all seemed so foreign, yet so familiar. Didn't summers seem so slow and tranquil when you where a child? The surroundings, the customs, the food are all different but the happiness that loving family and simple life bring are universal.

A very good novel! The character of the protagonist is sketched out well, making the reader sympathetic to all the feelings of this teenager. And the transformation in the girl's feelings towards her grandmother is handled with care, so that the reader understands the motivations for the change as well. Looking forward to more from this author.

I would hate to file a minority opinion amongst the generally good reviews of this book, but I must say, even as an Indian American myself, I find little redeeming in this novel. The narrative about "Maya" (but fill in the blank) going back to her ancestral land to discover her roots, and therefore herself, has been told ad nauseum in current South Asian diasporic writing. The prose is overblown, the imagery hackneyed (tropical fruit in the breeze, fried South Indian food), and the issues of migration, estrangement, and alienation are not related with a new spin or reinvented or subverted in any creative fashion. Yes, it is a story about a 15 year old who goes back to India to "make peace" with her roots; yes, it is painful; there is the requisite culture shock, a questioning of what "home" means; and Yes, of course, there is resolution, a solace offered in the "maps of the heart" (phrase taken from the book). I am at a loss to find anything novel in this work; it is a story we have all heard before, and one that we could write in our sleep if only because its themes and "issues" are so formulaic. Acutely disappointing, mediocre, and abjectly self-exoticizing.

Maya hasn't been to her native India in three years: a teenage, she wants to spend the summer with her New York friends, but her mother wants her to return home, so home she goes - there to feel a stranger between two cultures. Her coming of age brings new challenges and divided loyalties in Motherland, a very moving novel steeped in the Indian culture.