Customer Reviews

Sister India

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I found this book to be unsettling, but I could not stop reading. I believe readers who enjoyed "The God of Small Things" will understand what I mean by that, and I also believe they will enjoy this book as much as I did.

The story follows Estelle, a beanpole of a girl who flees North Carolina to find safe haven in Varanasi (Benares), the holiest of India's Hindu cities. Here she becomes Madame Natraja, and manages a small guesthouse called Saraswati. The beanpole of a girl now tips the scales at close to 400 pounds, and the guests of Saraswati are surprised at both her girth and her American-ness.

After an astrologer's prediction of unrest, seeds of religious disparity are sown amongst the Hindus and Muslims, and a Muslim is found murdered at Saraswati. As a result, a strict curfew is announced, and no one is to leave their homes. The guests of Saraswati find themselves virtual prisoners. During their "internment," they come to learn a great deal about each other, as well as India's cutsoms, and the rather mysterious Madame Natraja.

Throughout the book, we are brought back to North Carolina through flashbacks, being fed tiny bread crumbs of hints as to what has made Estelle-Natraja the miserable creature she now is. The truth is bittersweet, indeed.

It wasn't until I was finished with the book that I came to learn that Peggy Payne is also a travel writer; that rings particularly true in this, her first work of fiction. Her eye and ear for the "foreign" as we may know it are painfully true at times, and she unveils a world we can only hope to otherwise dream of. Pick up a copy of this book and curl up with it in front of the fire. It is a delight from the first sentence to the last but, if you're like me, you'll beg for more.

For over two decades, American Madame Natraja managed the small guesthouse Saraswati. When she lived in segregated Nevus, North Carolina in the 1950s, people knew the three hundred pound-plus woman as Estelle. A scandal forced Estelle to leave town and she kept moving until she settled in India's holiest of cities, Varanasi.

Her adopted home city has racial problems too as violence periodically erupts between the Hindus and Muslims. When someone murders a Muslim near Saraswati, the city leaders impose a strict curfew with no one allowed to leave their homes. The guesthouse visitors see a side of India they never expected to observe and learn how precious life truly is. Madame Natraja never veers from her set course until a friend vanishes.

The Lonely Planet tour guidebook lists the main protagonist as a "one woman blend of East and West." That is a very insightful look at Madame Natraja, who understands her western roots even as she embraces aspects of eastern culture. The story line is intriguing and complex, as Peggy Payne has written an intense novel with many layers of interpretation available to the reader.

Harriet Klausner

Contrary to some reviews, I did not find that the setting out shined the the character development, although their is not much of a plot. The setting and the turmoil in India that are featured in the book are mysterious. So too are the characters. While they are not all fully developed, the fact that they are not, made the book at the more compelling. The reader can almost feel him or herself as one of them. You would never really know a fellow guest in a bed and breakfast all that well during a short stay and that is just what Payne gives us. A partial view into the lives of people who pass like ships in the night. We may want to know more about them- but Payne leaves that up to the readers imagination. I ended the book wanted to know these people better. I have since thought about them. To me, that makes for an memorable reading experience.

Peggy Payne should receive an award for making you feel as if you've been someplace you've never actually been. Her descriptive prose of India's holy city, is so detailed and vibrant you can virtually feel the dirty water and see the colorful saris. The story is of three very different Americans staying in the same guest house run by a 400 pound former American. When violence breaks out between the Hindus and Muslims, it gives the travellers a first hand view of the countrys' unrest, and brings up personal issues that each of them have to contend with.A beautifully written, lyrical novel.

This novel provides an extraordinary journey, geographical and spiritual. In the company of unforgettable American as well as Indian characters, Payne takes us into the vibrant, unsettling, seethingly violent atmosphere of India. I've never literally visited there, but by the end of her book I felt I had. More than that, I took away with me the lives of her extraordinary characters, each searching for answers to their lives. This is a book you won't forget.Open any page and you'll see why.

Sister India is a novel that deserves more than the usual, "Amazing...simply marvelous...an absolute inspiring story," type of review. Anything less than a full page review would not even come close to scratching the surface of this well written novel. Peggy Payne writes with so much description and emotion that a reader will feel the "heat" that this novel contains.
The novel begins with Mother Natraja (Estelle), who is the keeper of a guest house in one of the holiest cities in India. She is one of the main characters in the novel, and is also the main narrator. Natraja is an obese woman who is constantly eating and rarely bathes. Although she is content with her weight, she was not always the three hundred plus pound woman that is described in the novel. She becomes obese due to the hardships she has faced during two disasterous love affairs with men of a different decent. The differences in culture connect India and America in more ways than one for Mother Natraja, but I will let you figure out what I mean.
The other main characters are connected in why they are at this guest house in Inida. T.J. Clayton, who has come to India from Florida to try and save some of its polluted rivers, is struggling with his marriage. Jill, a young woman in her thirties, has come to India in search of some sexual fulfillment and is trying to end a artificial relationship with a man back in th United States. Then there is Marie, who is a woman in her mid-seventies and has come to India because of the death of her husband. She has made a list of some things she wants to do before she dies, and one of them is to swim in the Ganges River, which lies down the road from the guest house. This river is important to the city of Banaras because it is where many Hindus come to die and bathe in the Shiva's divinity. It is a river where many people come in hopes of dissolving their sins, and starting a new beginning.
Now I know what you must be saying to yourself, "Will this guy just expalin to me why I should read this book." This book should be read for a number of reasons, and here is why.
In this novel, Peggy Payne has taken a few characters to show a realistic point, which is it is impossible to hide from life and life's problems. All of these characters search from an escape from the reality of their lives and hope to seek revelation with their journey to India. Natraja left America because of the racial violence that took place in her hometown after people found out about her African-American boyfriend. T.J. is a husband and father of two, who is struggling with his marriage to his wife Jane. Jill is a young woman in her sexual prime who is trying desperately to end a relationship with a man back home. Marie is a woman trying to pick up the pieces of her broken heart by trying to fill the void of her deceased husband by going on a trip. All of these charcters in this novel have come to a crossroad in their lives. They are at a guest house where there is a river that is supposed to cleanse them from their sins. These characters come to this river in hopes of "purifying" their spirits, and also hope to find their faith in life. Water is usually used as a symbol of cleansing, but in this novel, the sacred river is polluted and has many of its faithful weary of swimming in it. The problem is that these characters are hoping this river can help them create a new life for them to lead, which would lead to their salvation. Water can purify the body, but it takes the inner person to cleanse the spirit. These characters search for salvation ends with...oops, I better not spoil it.
This novel portrays a harsh reality to life, but allows the readers to relate with the struggles that the characters face in the story. Payne sends the reader on a journey of faith and and has the reader "partying" by the novel's end. The novel is definitely more than "a poetic evocation of contemporary India," whatever that may mean.

This novel's tale of Hindu-Muslim violence on the banks of the Ganges is unfortunately all too real. If you are interested in India read this book for its evocation of India, its culture and customs, and an understanding of its current problems, rather than for character development or plot.

The tale begins with a murder that occurs when violence erupts between Hindu and Muslim over what was probably a chance encounter--a bumping, a curse in the market, some casual rudeness. As a result several tourists are marooned due to a city-wide curfew in the guesthouse of Madame Natranja, an American who has lived in India for many years. Using a classic literary device, these strangers come to know each other and confront the demons within themselves. I found this device a bit clumsy at times, as the author hints at story lines but doesn't develop them---for example, we never really understand what's going on in TJ's marriage, and Jill's mental problems (obsessive-compulsive disorder most likely) seem totally at odds with her daring sojourns in what is a chaotic and dirty city by any standards. The ending is also a bit contrived--the plot touches on many complex issues which would take a long time to unravel, and Payne tries to neatly tie them up in a redemptive conclusion that really resolves very little.

The beauty of this book, however, lies in the picture it paints of the holy city Varanasi. The thought of burning bodies in the open with remains being swept away by the river, and the ritual bathing that occurs in that same river every day at dawn, is one that repels at first, but Payne's descriptions of the prayers, the chanting, the light, the deeply held beliefs, begins to make this slice of India comprehesible to an American. Payne also vividly describes the city itself--the press of human bodies, the claustrophobic alleys, the traffic, the dirt--in most realistic terms. I gather the author is a travel writer and it shows--the creation of a time and place is very well done.

Some of these reviews perplex me. I too came to this book expecting that the best Peggy Payne (a non-Indian name if there ever was one!) could do was part the curtains on the Delhi-Varanasi sleeper and give us a tourist's glimpse of the mysterious landscape outside. To be sure, she does not look at India as would a native such as Amitav Ghosh or Manil Suri (please read his "Death of Vishnu"). But, to my mind, she does something better and perhaps more difficult. She looks at the complicated and fascinating life of Varanasi through the eyes of Natraja, an American woman who has lived there for 20 years. It is India as filtered through a fascinating and absorbing character whose self-imposed isolation makes especially acute her perceptions of what's going on around her. I highly recommend this book if you love India or want to visit this complicated land.

If vivid descriptions were enough to form a compelling novel, then Peggy Payne's Sister India would be a rare accomplishment. However, while the sensual experience this novel provides is enjoyable, the plot falls short of captivating a reader. Payne's characters seem underdeveloped, causing her attempt to create tension to fail. The plot is over ambitious to the point where it seems too contrived. Like the Ganges River, the focal point of the novel, the plot is murky, mysterious, and polluted with dead characters.
Payne's story seems to be of a "slice of life" in Varanasi, India. Nothing extraordinary happens. The religious riots that break out occur swiftly and are underplayed as if the warring between Muslims and Hindu is a habitual occurrence. Payne does not seem to concern herself with the details of the war. Rather, she uses the lock down to force her characters to live together, prolonging their stay and causing their pasts to emerge. This sets the novel up to be a character driven story. However, the characters fail to prove themselves worthy of such importance.
The true plot lies in the story of Natraja's unusual, unconvincing past. The four hundred pound hotel owner is anything but ordinary. Payne attempts to create a parallel between the exotic Natraja and the magical Ganges. The hotel guest regard Natraja as a powerful guide and are both attracted and disgusted to her as they are to the river. However, Payne fails in both attempts to convince the reader that these things are worth caring about.
It is difficult to understand what would motivate a person to leave her home and move to another country. Natraja, formerly Estelle, was born in America but leaves for India after discovering that her stepfather murdered her African American boyfriend at the age of thirteen. This is her motivation for moving to another country at the young age of seventeen. It is unclear as to what keeps Natraja in India. She does fall in love with a man but that relationship fails. Somehow, this four hundred pound woman found her place in society and stays throughout the religious turmoil. She carries the weight of her stepfather's deed, literally, and remains bitter and self-conscious throughout the novel.
Similarly, the other characters in this novel have come to visit India searching for some sort of enlightenment. Each has their own pasts they are trying to escape, but do they succeed? Payne only reveals the future of one character, Marie, who remains in India because she has found herself useful there. This leaves the conclusion of the novel unsatisfying because it is an ensemble piece, but only a few characters receive some development. Because Payne alternates the narratives, each character is expected to be of equal importance. However, the lapses in the motivation, past, and future of the characters is unfulfilling. Payne offers only glimpses into the character's lives, and because there is little action in the novel they seem boring and irritating.
Unfortunately there are just too many coincidental events in the novel that make the story unbelievable. Why would an American who is visiting India to fix the river pollution, risk his life to see the maharaja about a body being dumped into a river during the time of religious turmoil? For that matter, why would the American stay in India instead of taking the first plane out? Why would the maharaja insist on keeping the American at the palace but then allow him to escape down river? The reader is not given enough information about the nature of the character or situation to justify these actions.
All of the characters seem to be drawn to the magical Ganges. This is the place of prayer for the Hindu people. It is also the site of their most sacred ritual, burning the bodies of the dead. Marie, TJ, Jill, Natraja, and Ramesh make many references to the river, but Payne does not show the river's power. Only TJ seems to have an awakening of sorts when he uses the river to push him away from the maharaja. Marie also seems to believe in the power of the river, but it is a psychic who convinces her to stay in India.
On a more positive note, her description of the holy city, from the cramped streets to the beautiful golden palace seem to have a natural elegance that invite the reader into this sensuous experience. The scents of jasmine and Indian spices sift through the pages. The noise created by the rickshaws and busy streets echoes in the ears and the sites are vividly painted for the eye. To the un-traveled reader, the place becomes as familiar as your own backyard.
This novel is a quick read, but not a page-turner. The eloquent setting descriptions force the characters to pale in comparison. I would like to see a novel that focuses on just one of the characters Payne introduces. I believe Natraja's story would be a more interesting one if it was the main storyline, however, the switching of narration proved to be a confusing distraction that made all of the characters seem flat. This could also be attributed to their lack of action in the novel itself. When the novel concluded, I felt that it had only just begun. I was still waiting for something to happen. However, nothing unpredictable did, it was simply a look at life in India.

Once I went to Hong Kong and sat in a park for hours listening to an imaginative and well-informed expat friend make up stories about the people who passed by. Better than reading a history book or travel guide, his tales tapped me into the heart and soul of the place. Peggy Payne's novel is like that. It takes you behind the hidden doorways, down the dark passages, and into the secret gardens of a place that's mysterious, dangerous and mesmerizing. Better yet, she gives us a glimpse into the private lives and secret passions of that odd elderly woman who sat next to you on the train and the quiet cook who served your eggs at breakfast. Short of booking passage, I can't think of a better way to explore this square mile of India.