Priya Rao left India when she was 20. Seven years later, she returns to find her parents are intent on arranging her marriage to a suitable Indian boy. Priya can only guess at what their reaction would be if she were to reveal she has a fiance in America, a fiance of an entirely different religion.

This was one of many books that Lynne kindly donated.

This was such a lovely story about Priya Rao, a 27 year old woman going back home to India, for a visit, after spending the last 7 years living and studying in the United States. Priya returns and finds that things are very different to how she remembers and that she thinks she is now 'Americanised' and can't wait to return to her now home of San Francisco in the USA.

However, what she doesn't realise is that her parents are intent on arranging her marriage to a local 'desirable' man so that she will change her mind about returning to the USA, her home and to her fiance, an American.

Priya's family are very stuck in their ways and are determined that Priya should be married to the right man so that the family name and line can be continued, the right man being a particular religion and caste and from a particular state in India, with the correct family background and the financial stability. So to keep them happy she agrees to go ahead with the 'bridal' viewing, and meets her 'arranged' partner...........

What would her parents say if they only knew of her plans to marry her fiance in America, a fiance of an entirely different race and religion????

A tale of family troubles and old fashioned values with a hint of racism and one woman's struggle with her feelings of insecurity and love for her family and her fiance........

There are some lovely recipes included within the book too.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Lyzzybee has had this book on her profile page for a long time and the rings/rays have gone missing or stalled. So this copy is now on its way to Lyzzybee as a little mini ring so that Liz can fulfill her wish to read it - not sure if it will go to other readers before returning to me???? I'm sure Liz will keep me updated.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did Liz.

Thanks so much for sending this to me! I will contact both ring-owners and see if they would like it to restart the rings!

LyzzyBee offered this book so I can restart my bookray (this time as a BOOKRING)- thank you, and thanks to birmingham-rose,too!

I shall place an announcement now at the forum and hope to get the list ready in 4-5 days.

After joining two failed bookrings for what turns out to be a smallish book and a quick read, I was very glad to finally get to this one! And it was very good too - phew!

Priya is back from America to see her complex family in Hyderabad, hoping she can pluck up the courage to tell them about her plans to marry her American boyfriend. It's mango pickling season and the extended family gathers at the grandparents' house, giving ample opportunity for complicated fights and huffs, and big scenes. While Priya fights against her Mum's plans for a bride-viewing, her aunt prepares for her 65th viewing and her aunt-in-law faces another pregnancy to try to produce a male heir. When Priya makes her statement, the other women in the house are driven to make theirs. Supported overtly by her brother and covertly by her Dad, she tries to pick her way through family minefield after family minefield. An excellent read with some genuine surprises - and good recipes.

This will go to resuscitate BookManiac70's bookring, so contact her if you'd like to join it!

Final order (BOOKRING CLOSED NOW):

1.scotsbookie, UK,int.
2.okyrhoe, Greece- int.
3.janaqq- US,domestic
4.ghostofarose- US, int.
5.Unwrittenlibra- US, int.

>>>>back to birmingham-rose,UK

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Posting to Scotsbookie today. Enjoy!

Arrived this morning, thanks got to LyzzyBee, bookmaniac70 & birmingham-rose. I'll be starting it after I finish the book reading tonight.

A good read. I liked Priya, how in her own way she kept true to herself even if she took ages to tell her family about Nick & even then left out one crucial detail.

The book is already on its way to okyrhoe.

Arrived in Athens. Thanks bookmaniac70 for including me in the ring, and scotsbookie for posting it to me.

I've got 7 ring books to be read at the moment, I hope I can finish them all in time.

A quick and pleasant read, but a shallow story, overall (esp. when compared to several novels* by fellow Indian/Pakistani authors I've read recently).
The novel covers the events of a few days, Priya's trip to India during which she is meant to inform her family about her impending marriage to her American fiance, interspersed with flashbacks and descriptive passages explaining what is presently going on and why.
I sometimes felt that some of these expository segments were merely 'filler material' to flesh out the story and expand the novel's length, without being particularly insightful or original in the content. If you've read only one other Indian novel, or seen a Bollywood film, much of this will be repetitive. So it's a quick read.
The story, like the cinema pop culture to which it frequently makes references, bases its dramatic tension on stereotyped characters and their corresponding stock views (one difficult parent, one understanding parent, the intractable pater familias, the chorus of gossipy peripheral characters, etc.), instead of offering us original & complex personalities, with the exception of Priya, the narrator.

I was somewhat irritated by Priya, how she chose to skirt the issues when it wasn't to her advantage. Although I did want to take her side (after all, the story is from her point of view), I just couldn't get over the constant reminder that she was perpetually evading her family's questions, and fudging her words to her fiance back in San Francisco.
It was a relief finally to have Ardash bluntly tell Priya how immature she's been behaving all along. And yet at the end...she still can't be 100% responsible to tell her family - face to face, up close and personal, adult to adult - the full truth about herself and about her fiance.

* the titles -->
Salt and Saffron
Arranged Marriage
Maps For Lost Lovers
Sister of My Heart
broken verses
Bitter Sweets

----
"janaqq" asked to be skipped, so I'm contacting "ghostofarose," the next person on the reading list.

The book was returned to me by the USPS marked 'No such street'. I've contacted ghostofarose about the correct address and I'll re-post a.s.a.p.

Hooray, I have received this book safely! It had a little adventure getting here. (See the post above.) Okyrhoe had my address correct - apparently someone in the US Postal Service screwed up. Well, that's not the first time that's ever happened. Like Okyrhoe, I'm just glad that the book wasn't lost, and that this time it arrived promptly and safely!

A big thank-you to Okyhoe for taking the trouble and expense to post the book internationally - twice.

I really like the way this book is structured, very creative and unusual. Each section is introduced by a recipe. Then, at some point in that section, there is a scene during which the characters are preparing that particular recipe. What fun!

The recipes looked really intriguing, and I wanted to try all of them. But I doubt that I will actually make any, because they all called for ingredients that are difficult or impossible to find here. So instead, reading about them made me want to go to an Indian restaurant!

The Mango Season isn't a book for lovers of fast-paced action and adventure. Instead, it has two things that I greatly prefer to action: an intimate look into another place and culture; and an insightful examination of family relationships. These family relationships are in some ways quite different, and in many ways the same, as in my own American culture. It was fascinating to compare the differences and similarities.

(213 pages)

Mailed to UnwrittenLibra on Friday, June 5. Enjoy, Unwritten!

Spoiler alert: Do not read the part below until after you have read this book!

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Boy, did I guess wrong about why Nick was missing for a couple of days. My guess was that he had recognized the intensity of Priya's distress with her family and was on his way to her in India, to the rescue. It turned out that he was only exceptionally busy at work. I like my idea better - it makes for both a better story and a better partner!

But on the other hand, Malladi wrote it the only way possible for that culture - I'm looking at it from the perspective of my own culture. If Nick had come, it would only have greatly increased the problems with Priya's family. So actually, he was a more considerate partner by NOT coming to India.

In the end, her family still doesn't know that Nick is African-American. This is both realistic (she had already shocked them thoroughly by announcing her engagement to an American and didn't dare upset them further. Did you notice throughout the book how highly they valued having light-colored skin?) - AND it leaves room for a sequel.

I hope there will be a sequel!

Arrived here in Baltimore, MD today - thanks! I have 4 other bookrings on the TBR pile and hopefully I'll work quickly, but I might have this one into the end of July or beginning of August because I'm leaving the country for a month. Still, I'm excited to get to reading it! Thanks again for including me :)

Finished it yesterday...not the greatest read, but still pretty good. The characters got confusing after awhile, and I accidentally got spoiled for the end. Sorry it took me so long...I was away for a month and only just got back.

Back to the UK next week!

Mailed out today from Stevenson, Maryland to the UK - home sweet home!

Arrived safely home. I see there are a few mixed reviews of this book. Glad you were all happy to read it. I will mark it as reserved and may offer it up for another ring very soon.