Darjeeling: A Novel

Overview

A sweeping family saga set in Manhattan and in Darjeeling, India. Afamily is torn apart when two sisters fall in love with the same man, Pranab. Pranab loves the awkward, younger sister but, out ofobligation, marries the beautiful, older sister. The story opens tenyears later, when their Grandmother summons everyone home to the familytea plantation to celebrate her birthday. Forbidden love, familyjealousies, and surprising twists all make "Darjeeling" a classiccommercial page-turner filled with the tastes and smells of thismountain haven in India.

Editorial Reviews

Two Westernized sisters who grew up on a tea plantation in Darjeeling waste a decade in rivalry over the same unworthy man in Kirchner's firmly grounded, workmanlike novel of Indian mores. Aloka Gupta, the elder, conventionally pretty sister, married the man, Pranab, her disgraced fiance and expert tea taster, despite the revelation of his affair with her younger sister, Sujata. The couple fled Darjeeling for the U.S. in 1992 because of threats by Aloka's outraged father, while brokenhearted Sujata was banished to British Columbia, Canada, by the family's matriarch, Nina. It is now eight years later, and the marriage has ended in divorce; Aloka is a successful journalist who writes a "Dear Seva" column for transplanted Indian immigrants in New York City, while Sujata, now called Suzy, has become a self-made tea importer. When grandmother Nina requests that the two sisters return home to celebrate her 70th birthday, their rivalry over Pranab, whose adjustment to American life has not been smooth, flares afresh. Kirchner writes most convincingly when delineating the frustrated lives of Indian immigrants in America, as evidenced through the letters Aloka receives as her alter ego, Seva. The sprawling, aromatic tea plantation in Darjeeling, in contrast, tends to be glimpsed through a gossamer nostalgia. Likewise, many of the rosy characterizations, such as that of Nina and Aloka's new boyfriend, Jahar, border on stereotype. However, Kirchner, a novelist (Shiva Dancing) and cookbook author, reveals a tremendous faith in her characters and their love of their homeland - especially its food - and if her portrayal of the clash between traditional and modern ways seems formulaic and sketchily handled, she does infuse her work with a genuine Indian spirit. Agent, Liza Dawson. Author tour. (July 15) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information. -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY.

Author Information

Bio of Bharti Kirchner

Bharti Kirchner was born in India, and worked as a software systems engineer at the Bank of America in San Francisco. Her first book was a cookbook, Health Cuisine of India, and went on to write several more vegetarian Indian cookbooks over the next few years. She toyed with the idea of writing fiction, and eventually produced her first book, Shiva Dancing. She lives in Seattle, Washington, and can be reached at bhartik@aol.com

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Additional Info

Imprint

Macmillan

Filesize

1.10 MB

Number of Pages

320

eBook ISBN

9781429976312