Customer Reviews

Under the Lemon Trees

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An amazing debut novel about a Sikh family in 1970's America struggling to preserve their Indian values and culture, but also to "fit" in the culture of the US.
I was drawn in very quickly to Neelam and Jeeto and their day to day lives in school and as they fall in and out of love, graduate from high school and the expectations that they soon face immediately after that. Both girls are faced with the the expectation of marrying young, but also want to learn who they are as individuals. They have friends, fall in love and in the face of tragedy, learn to grow into independent women.
Ms. Backhaus also tells readers how the family settled in California as the past is interwoven into the present. The flashbacks are amazing and give valuable insight into the family and their beliefs. As the story progresses, you learn about how the families are connected in more ways then the obvious (I won't spoil the story) and I found myself having a hard time putting the book down.
Overall, this is a fantastic first novel for Bhira Backhaus and I can't wait to read what she writes next! For all that are interested in learning about different cultures in the US, this is a great book to pick up. Backhaus' writing is beautiful and it flows very easily from paragraph to paragraph. Highly recommended!

In "Under the Lemon Trees," Bhira Backhaus provides an intriguing picture of what it was like to grow up Sikh in agricultural northern California. Most of us have long forgotten the struggle of acculturation, especially for a teenager! The story is interesting and well-crafted throughout, then at about the ¾ point several entirely unexpected subplots are introduced that made it nearly impossible for me to put the book down. A great read!

I've read a number of Indian American novels, tales of families and tradition, transplants and culture shock. This one was well done. The book was not too maudlin, but still realistic in the ups and downs of the lives of the characters. The language was lush and evocative as you were lead through the stories of the various characters linked by family and tradition. I enjoyed the interweaving of past and present as the tales of several generations were told on top of each other.

I was fortunate to meet Bhira and get a signed copy of this book. It is by far the best book I've read telling the tales of a sikh family growing up in the central valley of california. Having grown up in California as a first generation immigrant child, I totally related to the struggles of these characters, the bias that they face, the confusion and the hardship of juggling adolescence in America with Indian values.

She also pulls you into the past with the main characters helping you understand the struggles of all the characters and does so in a very well manner. So many movies that use "cut-scenes" today don't pull this off quite so well. You don't feel like your reading something put together by Tarantino (Pulp Fiction) as the flow of the story is very good.

I highly recommend this read to anyone that would like to understand the struggle of us Sikhs.