From the product description:
He placed a notice in a Chicago paper, an advertisement for "a reliable wife." She responded, saying that she was "a simple, honest woman." She was, of course, anything but honest, and the only simple thing about her was her single-minded determination to marry this man and then kill him, slowly and carefully, leaving her a wealthy widow, able to take care of the one she truly loved.
I chose this book because so many people suggested it to me, and I know that I started it expecting to love it. I should never do that. It's possible that my expectations were just too high. It was a good enough story, but I saw every "twist" well before it came and knew the ending when I still had about half of the book to go. The lust was overdone, and some of the scenes where nothing much happened went on for much too long. I was impressed with most of the characters, which is what kept me reading to the end. They stayed true to who they were which made the story more predictable, but that saved it for me. Confused? All I can say without spoilers is that I was glad that the characters didn't break away and become something inconceivable. I would rate it between a 2 1/2 and a 3 out of 5....hard to decide.
Once I started reading this book it became impossible to walk away from until I completely devoured it. It reminds me of the emoitional pull that I felt when reading White Oleander by Janet Fitch or Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum (who I just found out is coming out with another book! Yay! But back to the topic...). The Murderer's Daughters is about Lulu and Merry, two young girls who witness the murder of their mother by their father. Merry is also attacked, but survives. The story follows them from their childhood in an orphanage and foster care to adulthood. Each girl responds very differently to their father, who is serving a life sentence in prison. I was impressed by how the author handled the ideas of forgiveness and resentment, and how different people need such different things sometimes in order to survive. I would highly recommend this book to my friends and fellow book lovers. This would also make a fantastic book club book. I'm looking forward to what this author will write in the future.
One Amazing Thing, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's latest novel, is about nine people who become trapped in a visa office when an earthquake hits. Each person is either planning a trip to India for reasons that we don't know much about, or they are employed in the office and have secrets of their own. While they are trapped and waiting for signs of rescue, each is asked to tell a story of one amazing thing they have experienced in life. I wish that the book had been longer because several of the stories seemed too brief and didn't offer as much about the individual characters as I had hoped. I was also somewhat disappointed in the way that the author chose to end the book, and people who like tidy endings will probably be frustrated. However, I still think that this is a book worth reading. I am a huge fan of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, with Sister of My Heart being my favorite so far. I would rate this one a 4/5.
Wow, this was excellent. I wasn't sure that I was up for another story about civil rights since I recently read The Help, which I loved. I assumed that this book couldn't compare. You will know from the first chapter that something tragic has happened, and the story is put together bit by bit from several different points of view. It's a sad and disturbing book, but impossible to put down. Definitely a 5/5 for me.
I should say that I always seem to like reading this author. She raises good questions about how people would react in situations that you can relate to. This book focused on a pregnancy pact made between a group of high school friends. The mothers of the girls are also close friends and play key roles in their community. I did have a hard time finding the behavior of the daughters to be believable. The conversations just seemed to be repeating themselves throughout the book, and I found myself frustrated with the characters. It was a good enough read, but not my favorite of her's. I'd rate it a 3/5.
I purchased this book because I love to read about India, and I love memoirs that examine culture clashes, especially humorous ones. This book was all of that, but also gave a look into a very sad and unbelievable childhood. In that way it reminded me of The Glass Castle and Running With Scissors. Mani's parents packed up and moved to India when she was seven in order to devote themselves to the guru Meher Baba. She found so much humor in some of the most difficult and painful experiences. This is an excellent memoir that should not be missed.
