Book 03 Aug 2008 08:19 am
I hate reality but I still loved this book
One of the reasons I like to read fiction is because at the end, the characters can be happy. The goal of course is for the author to make it believable, but still, I want HAPPY people…
I just finished reading Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins. It was beautiful. It takes place in India in the 1970′s. Here is the jacket blurb on it…
When her father loses his job and leaves India to look for work in America, Asha Gupta, her older sister, Reet, and their mother must wait with Baba’s brother and his family, as well as their grandmother, in Calcutta. Uncle is welcoming, but in a country steeped in tradition, the three women must abide by his decisions. Asha knows this is temporary — just until Baba sends for them. But with scant savings and time passing, the tension builds: Ma, prone to spells of sadness, finds it hard to submit to her mother- and sister-in-law; Reet’s beauty attracts unwanted marriage proposals; and Asha’s promise to take care of Ma and Reet leads to impulsive behavior. What follows is a firestorm of rebuke — and secrets revealed! Asha’s only solace is her rooftop hideaway, where she pours her heart out in her diary, and where she begins a clandestine friendship with Jay Sen, the boy next door. Asha can hardly believe that she, and not Reet, is the object of Jay’s attention. Then news arrives about Baba . . . and Asha must make a choice that will change their lives forever.
It was a beautiful book.. (haven’t I said that already?) But it really was. The family dynamics, with the father gone to America, the mother and two sisters left to live with relatives. The money problems, the Indian culture, it was all so beautifull7 written and described.
However, it was not a romance novel where everyone lives happily every after in their perfect world. It was a novel of family honor and respect, doing what is right even though it may kill you inside.
It was beautiful and worth it, but have tissues ready at the end!
Look for it on the shelf of your local independent bookshop in January of 2009. I also wanted to include this bio of Mitali, from her website, because it will definitely show you how this woman knows her stuff about different cultures!
Mitali Bose Perkins was born in Kolkata (Calcutta), India. Her name means “friendly” in Bangla, which she tried to live up to because the Bose family moved so often – they lived in India, Ghana, Cameroon, London, New York City, and Mexico City before settling in the San Francisco Bay Area when she was in middle school. Mitali studied political science at Stanford University and public policy at U.C. Berkeley, surviving academia thanks to a steady diet of kids’ books from public libraries and bookstores, and went on to teach middle school, high school, and college students. She lived in India, Bangladesh, Thailand, and California with her husband and twin sons before the Perkins family moved to Newton, Massachusetts, where they live now.
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