I received this for my birthday!!

From Amazon:
Between the pressures to marry and become a traditional Indian wife and the humiliation of losing her job in Silicon Valley, Devi is on the edge–where the only way out seems to be to jump. . . .

Yet Devi's plans to "end it all" fall short when she is saved by the last person she wants to see: her mother. Forced to move in with her parents until she recovers, Devi refuses to speak. Instead, she cooks . . . nonstop. And not the usual fare, but off the wall twists on Indian classics, like blueberry curry chicken or Cajun prawn biryani. Now family meals are no longer obligations. Devi's parents, her sister, and her brother-in-law can't get enough–and they suddenly find their lives taking turns as surprising as the impromptu creations Devi whips up in the kitchen each night. Then a stranger appears out of the blue. Devi, it appears, had a secret–one that touches many a nerve in her tightly wound family. Though exposing some shattering truths, the secret will also gather them back together in ways they never dreamed possible.

Interspersed with mouthwatering recipes, this story mixes humor, warmth, and leap-off-the-page characters into a rich stew of a novel that reveals a woman's struggle for acceptance from her family and herself.

Devi grew up in a traditional Indian family that moved to California before she was born. Her relationship with her mom isn't very close because her mom is constantly nagging and blaming Devi. Her relationship with her sister is also strained because so much competition has been fostered between the two. She is close to her father and grandmother but doesn't feel like she can confide in them when she loses her job (again) and miscarries a child from a married man. Those two events push Devi over the edge and cause her to attempt suicide. Thankfully, her mom finds her in the bathtub, when she uses the spare key that Devi has told her before not to use to enter her house whenever she wanted. After a trip to the hospital, Devi is left in the care of her parents until she heals.

Back at her parent's house, Devi starts cooking up a storm. She throws weird combinations to traditional Indian food that wows her family. This seems to compensate for the fact that she's stopped talking. Her family keeps trying to get her to talk and Devi just keeps cooking rather than addressing the issues that caused her to attempt suicide.

The start of this book was very slow for me because Devi's mom was so obnoxiously annoying. She has to be one of the most stubborn characters written to novel and the author would repeat her most stubborn callings as if trying to get the reader to believe that she was stubborn. Eventually though, this turned in to a nice novel about family and marriages. Some marriages worked out, some didn't, but at the end of it all family always sticks together.

Mailed to my birthday partner today.

Thanks - excellent Birthday gift!! Looking forward to reading this.

Thank you very much for this book that I chose by its first sentence from the First Sentences VBB. I’m very happy for choosing this as I read The Mango Season some years ago and I liked it a lot!