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Book Reviews
Excerpts:
Sister of My Heart
by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
2000, First Anchor Edition, 322 pages
reviewed by Kaye McKinzie
At the heart of every culture, and within each family, there is a unique and driving spirit, comprised of tradition, history and faith in belonging. Born into mysterious bonds, each generation questions the past and their own spirit is renewed as they come to accept the shadows of heritage, the motives of times long passed, and move on to make their own future. It is the dynamic spirit of the Calcutta Chatterjee family and the discovery of its dark history that form the central plot for Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s new novel, Sister of My Heart
. . . . . . Pilgrimage: One Woman’s Return to a Changing Indiaby Pramila Jayapal
2000, Seal Press, 265 pages
reviewed by Celeste Henery In her book Pilgrimage: One Woman’s Return to a Changing India, Pramila Jayapal details and reflects on the experiences that make India most real to her: poverty, women’s roles, the caste system and religion. Through these aspects of Indian society, Jayapal seeks to understand her own identity and her connection to the country she left at age four . . . . . . Anni’s Diary
by Anni Axworthy
1992 Charlesbridge Publishing
Reviewed by Barbara J. Euser
30 page picturebook for ages 5 - 10
Author/narrator Anni is apparently ten years old as she travels with her parents for three and a half months around the perimeter of India. Anni devotes a page or two in her diary to each of the major cities they visit, including Delhi, Agra, Jaisalmer, Bombay, Goa, Mysore, Madurai, Calcutta and Varanasi . . .
. . . This book is a useful brief introduction to India for a child.
. . . Homeless Birdby Gloria Whelan
2000 Harper Collins, 216 pages
Reviewed by Barbara J. Euser
Ages 10 - adult
This book for adolescents tells a fascinating and horrifying story of arranged marriage in India. Thirteen year old Koly is married to a chronically ill boy whose parents need her dowry money to take him to Varanasi . . .
. . .Whelan does an excellent job of weaving the tale. Her accurate descriptions of village life, at Koly’s home and then at her in-laws’, transport the reader there. Whelan helps us understand that even a difficult and simple life has its moments of pleasure . . .
. . . Shiva’s Fireby Suzanne Fisher Staples
2000 Farrar Strauss Giroux, 276 pages
Reviewed by Barbara J. Euser
Ages 10 - adult
Shiva’s Fire is about the importance of discovering and developing one’s unique gifts. Paravati, the protagonist, is a magically gifted dancer . . .
. . . The moral seems to be that when Paravati devotes her life to developing her art, many others benefit . . .
