Fiction/Literature
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.
First Line: "The DOW was down almost 600 points the week Devi decided to commit suicide."
Rating:
(3.5/5)
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