Desirable Daughters: A Novel

A mythic family story begins the book about 5-year-old Tara Lata who is on her way to be married. When they arrive the bridegroom has died from a snakebite; therefore, to save face Tara's father marries her to a tree. The protagonist of this novel is also named Tara after her ancestor Tara Lata and they both had two older sisters so Tara feels a connection to this long dead relative. The main Tara of the book is a divorced Indian woman living in San Francisco raising a 15-year-old son and living with a ex-biker hippie named Andy. She has a very amicable relationship with her son's father and her ex - Bish. Tara believes she is close to her sisters, one of whom lives in Indian and the other one lives in New Jersey but when a stranger enters her life claiming to be the son of her oldest sister, she realizes she knows very little about either sister.Tara is torn between being Indian and American. She has embraced Americanism the most of the three sisters but it seems as if something is missing from her life. We get to watch her grow and mature as a character and we are drawn in with her humor and assessment of her life between two worlds. It is the story of a woman trying to find her way between her traditional Indian life she grew up with and her new American ways; the relationship she has with her Indian family; and her relationships with her ex-husband and her son; not to mention her relationship with her lover. She is overwhelmed at times and happy and grateful at other times. It is truly a woman's book. Whether we are immigrants or not we all feel the same way Tara does at some time in our life.I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in a good read, Indian culture, the immigrant experience, feminism, or just merely human reactions to what happens to them in life.

Bharati Mukherjee's "Desirable Daughters" is the eloquently described conflict between a woman's need to adhere to her parents old world traditions and her desire to be part of contemporary American culture. The narrator, Tara Chatterjee, is divorced after an arranged marriage to Bishwapriya (Bish) Chatterjee, the first son of a privileged Indian family and now a silicon valley billionaire in his own right. She is now a single parent raising their son, Rabi, in an ethnically mixed San Francisco neighborhood. Having embraced the American culture of her contemporaries Tara is living with Andy, a Hungarian, Bhuddist,ex biker,and carpenter. She is at peace with her existence although she finds it difficult to explain her Calcutta roots to her American friends and to describe her American lifestyle to her Bengali parents.Tara returns to her home one day to find her son with a stranger claiming to be her nephew, the son of her oldest sister and a classmate from their childhood. The story he tells is compelling, but there is also the possibility that it is a scam. In order to unravel the mystery of this affair she is forced to confront her sisters and to reassess her relationships and values in the face of possible danger to herself and those closest to her.The rich descriptions of Tara's Calcutta childhood and her involvement in the Indian American community complement the engaging tale, although at time these descriptions are too detailed and unecessarily delay the story. The conflicting philosophies of Tara and her sisters add to the character of the book and to our understanding of the plight of immigrant groups in our country. However "Desirable Daughters" is most effective as simply a compelling and thought provoking story.

Book was in good condition.

Book was in very poor condition. If I order one than one book from the same place at the same time I don't think I should have to pay double postage and handling.

Really liked this one.

Desirable Daughters is primarily the story of Tara Lata, one of three sisters and the namesake of an ancient grand-aunt who became a Tree Bride. The story is slow to progress and doesn't really have much of a plot. What it does do, is paint a fascinating picture of Brahmin elitist life in Calcutta, the bhadralok as they are known. We get a glimpse of a lost time, an age of protected innocence where a 'Loreto school girl' epitomized class and culture and groomed to become a good wife. The story deals with Tara's memories of that time and her slowly fading reverence for her childhood and culture as she is forced to look back without rose-tinted glasses on while she simultaneously tackles with the challenges and stark realities of her new life in America.Beautifully written, the best parts are descriptions of Tara's childhood and her sheltered life as a Silicon Valey wife. But the lack of a plot detracts from the overall book. Still, it is a lovely read all in all and Bharati Mukherjee's storytelling skills more than make up for the deficiencies.

When I read the Title of the Novel , I thought its a book like Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, giving an account of life of three desirable daughters, more to do with finding suitable boys for them. but it turned out to be different then what I had perceived. The book begins with The beginning of the Tree brides life, its quite impressive. You kind of get drenched into it. But the story moves from it, and comes to early 90s. It follows the life of the protagonist, a women married to a big shot in Silicon Valley, now divorces and living with her son. As exceptional the beginning of the Novel is, the end is that disappointing. The novel gains pace after a 200 pages again, but then to loose it completely by end of novel.The readers from Bengal, and Indians who migrated in early 70's now living in Silicon valley or in USA can relate to the book really well as the book is laced with the lucid and long descriptions of the same. The book grips you in portions only, suddenly loosing the grip. The momentum is set, but then left midway. It will be blunt, but more or less felt like rants of a divorced Bengali women torn apart between her East Bengal and present day immigrant life in US.Some topics seem to be thrown in but not concluded, like the biker life, emerging Gay life of those times mentioning of Gay life. The novel at times is too much on monologues. Will be buying The tree bride by the same author to give author another chance as I loved the beginning of the novel, detailing the tree bride.An OK read.

Good novel.

Good

Gudh