Extra copy purchased for $2 at the Alabaster Bookshop on 4th Avenue and 12th Street in New York, NY on September 14th, 2005.

RELEASE NOTES:

Off to GorgeousGlo! Enjoy!

RELEASE NOTES:

Off to GorgeousGlo! Enjoy!

Today it wasn't the greatest of days, so i was happy to find this in my mailbox.

Thanks!

I have mixed feelings about this novel, because I really enjoyed it all along, and then the ending let me down big time.

This is a novel rich in topics. Nazneen, the main character, gets married to a man many years her senior, who lives in London. She moves there not knowing one word in English. She lives in a closed Bangladeshi community, in virtual isolation from the rest of the city. Over the next dozen years or so she would begin to experience cataclismic culture shock. From being resigned to her fate, adrift to what destiny gave her, Nazneen moves on to the driver's seat.

Entwined to her story, we read the letters that her sister Hasina mails from Bangla Desh. Hasina never bought that hogwash concept of fate, and followed her hot little heart. At times she had to pay dearly for her lack of submission, but her optimism and drive for a better future always kept her on her feet.

Nazneen's husband, Chanu, is a poor devil who cannot admit to himself what a loser he has become. He especially feels vulnerable in the presence of his oldest daughter Shahana. Your children can be your most ferocious critics, pulling no punches. Chanu had always toyed with the idea to go back home, and when Shahana's severe eyes got too hard for him to resist, he starts making that idea a reality. That is the big turning point of the novel.

How everything was resolved at the end reminded me of a typical Oprah's Book Club novel. What a disappointment! This ending was almost a compromise: the author did not want to upset anyone. I was expecting more drama.

But this end does not steal from the great storytelling of this book, the richness of characters, the immigrant experience of a young woman, with only her brain to survive. This was well worth my time.

As there are lots of read books piling around my desk, and I never seem to wild-release, I search wish lists to see if I can give them a new home. Through the magic of Cliff and RABCK.com, this book is on its way to Nancyluvsbooks.

I received this in the mail as a RABCK from Georgeousglo! Thank you so much!

RELEASE NOTES:

Will release at today's meetup

Yay - the prize of the meet-up!! Thanks for bringing Nancy!