Tamarind Woman [Hardcover]

Anita Rau Badami (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 2002

Set in the railway colonies of India, Tamarind Woman tells a sweeping story of two generations of women. Kamini, an overachiever, lives in a self-imposed exile in Canada. Her mother, Saroja, nicknamed Tamarind Woman due to her sour tongue, is trapped by the customs of traditional Indian life. When Saroja informs her daughter that she has sold their house and is going on a journey across India alone by train, both women are plunged into the past, confronting their dreams and disappointments as well as their long-held secrets.

At the center of both their lives is Kamini's elusive father, an officer for the India Railway System. Often away from home working on the railroads, he is unaware of the secrets of his own household. He doesn't know that his wife disappears for days at a time, leaving Kamini and her favored younger sister in the care of their superstitious servant. Nor does he know the gossip surrounding his wife and the local mechanic. Nothing, however, escapes Kamini's notice. Only now, living in Canada, is she able to make sense of the eccentric family she's left behind. Only now, with her children grown and her husband long deceased, is Saroja able to make peace with her past.

Lyrical, compassionate, and wise, Tamarind Woman is a powerful novel about family, memory, and the traditions that tear us apart and bring us together.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Originally published in India in 1996, this first novel is Badami's second to appear in the United States, after The Hero's Walk (LJ 3/15/01). Here she relates the story of Saroja, as told by her daughter Kamini and by Saroja herself. Kamini's memories are triggered when she learns of her mother's plan to journey across India without itinerary. Kamini's inability to contact her mother while she travels mirrors her childhood feelings of neglect and abandonment. In embarking on her travels, Saroja not only defies the narrow expectations of her parents, who pushed her into a loveless marriage and ended her ambitions, but she also breaks away from the expectations of her daughter. Although set primarily in India, this portrait of a mother and daughter transcends geographical limitations. And though the book bears some similarities to Amy Tan's The Bonesetter's Daughter (LJ 1/01), Badami provides no tidy resolutions to intergenerational and intercultural conflicts. Mother and daughter begin and end their stories alone. This thoughtful work is recommended for all public and academic fiction collections. Rebecca Stuhr, Grinnell Coll. Libs., IA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Badami's second novel explores the relationship of a mother and daughter, Saroja and Kamini. In the first half, Kamini comes of age among postcolonial India's railway colonies. Her father is often away, charting new frontiers for railway expansion, and she is left home with her mother and sister. She eventually leaves for Canada, where she remains wistful for the smells and sounds of India. Kamini worries when her mother suddenly departs for a trip across India, with only postcards marking her whereabouts. Saroja then speaks, telling her story of longing for a life independent of the demands of a husband and family. She recounts her loveless marriage and thwarted attempts to become a doctor, her often vicious commentaries earning her the nickname Tamarind Mem, after the sour fruit that grows in her backyard. Badami's brilliant and beautiful novel captures life in India--the musicality of the English spoken, the interactions with servants, the smells of rotting fruit in the market, the sweltering sun, and the constant moving about of a railway family. Michael Spinella
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Algonquin Books; 1 edition (March 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565123352
• ISBN-13: 978-1565123359
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,195,796 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful insight into Indian experiences, April 27, 2002

By 

vijay (Mountain View, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tamarind Woman (Hardcover)

I must confess that I didn't buy it at Amazon - I picked it up at a local [book] store that highlighted a set of new authors.

And as I started reading the book at their store, I just couldn't stop it....It was absolutely riveting....I had finished more than half of the book, before I realized that they were going to close the store in 10 minutes or so !!

This book is an absolute page-turner, if you are from India....The attention to small small details, from an Indian childhood are just amazing.

For instance, the author talks about the frequent transfers that many families of banks/railways/govt officers have....and all the accompanying problems of being a child in desh - frequent fights between parents, too much emphasis on God & religion, awkward circumstances of even getting an oil bath.....

This author has a remarkable memory and wraps it around the basic story of the daughter (in Canada) walking down her memory lane....at the same time, the mother (in Madras) has an entirely different view of the same circumstances !! (which you realize after completing the book.....)

Anyways, I would rate it as a must-buy, if you are an desi immigrant to North America....check it out.... and you realize that an author like Anita can package all your desh experiences in one nice book. (it also gave me a new insight of taking that package and stop worrying about all the awkward things of childhood....can press the delete button on the package!!)

Regards,

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful trip to a far away place, August 20, 2002

By 

Debra F. Marsh "debra26" (Winston-Salem, NC USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tamarind Woman (Hardcover)

I was sad to finish Tamarind Woman. It was that good. What struck me the most about this book is how alike we all are, even if we're from different parts of the world.

The author skillfully weaves the present and different versions of the past together. Aunty Vijaya from the book remarks that memories are never the same between two people--"They are pictures we create in our hearts you see...and each of us uses different sticks of chalk to colour them." The dialogue is excellent. The characters and relationships are varied and interesting. The descriptions are vivid--"...the tree was covered in blossoms, fiery with colour sucked from the sun."

As I was skimming the book to include a couple of my favorite sentences in this review, I caught myself re-reading it! I had to make myself stop. I'll recommend Tamarind Woman to my mother-in-law and sister-in-law, and I'm going to add Badami's second book The Hero's Walk to my wish list right now. If you enjoy learning about other cultures or if you're just interested in human relationships, you'll enjoy this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poignant flavours of family, January 22, 2009

By 

D. Leland - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tamarind Woman (Ballantine Reader's Circle) (Paperback)

This book pulls at my heart in ways that few collections of words ever have. There are chords struck that resonate in my family recollections with a clarity and truth that strikes me dumb, were it not for the envigorating sense of recognition that she has felt the same forces as I, and articulated them wonderfully. There is a poignance that exceeds mere reminiscence, that's what happens when one recognises a similar feeling occurring in another person. Thanks to Anita Rau Badami for putting it all down in words so beautifully!