Sister of My Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Sister of My Heart was something which caught my eye with the author's name. I have heard wonderful things about the author and her novel ' Palace of Illusions' so I thought why not this one too.

After I finished the book, what I felt was that there could have been so much more which could have been done for this book. Did it evoke in me a strong feeling towards the characters? Yes, it did. But, by the end of it, I was not sure whether I bought the entire story. Maybe it is possible in the times that are being described, but I am not sure. I must add that I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book, but there was just not that zing or awe that it could create for me. Maybe I am just done with the Indian writing which is intended to open the culture to the outside world. In fact, that is what this book felt like to me. There were so many instances of where in I felt this book would be seen as wonderful by a different audience.

The story in itself was beautiful, women centric and showing so many emotions which pace through our lives as we deal with so many people. We have our own ways of handling things and it also highlights how our feelings and thoughts mature/ change when faced with different scenarios. How elders tend to protect, how youngsters rebel and how everything seems to be good once you are married, and there suddenly seems to be no restrictions for a girl once she is married.

It is a quick read, a page turner, but if you are looking for great prose, character details, then that is not what it has to offer, but it does do a good deal of justice to bring out the India as seen through the eyes of middle class women.

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