Desirable Daughters

by Bharati Mukherjee

Book Overview

"The highlight of her career to date . . . Mukherjee bursts out as a star" (Publishers Weekly starred review]) in her stirring novel of three women, two continents, and a perilous journey from the old world to the new--now available in paperback. In the tradition of the Joy Luck Club, Bharati Mukherjee has written a remarkable novel that is both the portrait of a traditional Brahmin Indian family and a contemporary American story of...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786885157
• ISBN13: 9780786885152
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Hachette Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.0" x 8.1"
• Age Range: 17 to 18 years
• Grade Range: Grade 12 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

Very moving book

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.

A Triumph for Mukherjee

This clear-eyed tale of Tara Chatterjee begins in an unlikely place, a forest lit by oil lamps in 1879 as a five-year old bride is led on a palanquin to marry a tree, an ingenious ceremony designed to protect her honor. It soon becomes clear that the narrator of this strange event (and the novel as a whole) is Tara Chatterjee, a divorced single mother living in San Francisco who was named after the Tree-Bride. Tara comes from a prestigious Calcutta family, the Bhattacharjees, the youngest daughter of three, and can trace her ancestry back to the five-year old bride. Now a school aide living with a Buddhist carpenter, Tara's life goes against everything she was raised to be. The only constant is her emotional devotion to her family. When a suspicious man shows up claiming to be the illegitimate son of her oldest sister, however, Tara's understanding of both her sister and the world is shaken. Danger and secrets lurk everywhere, and Tara finds herself alone in the middle of a crowded society as she searches for both truth and security. This complicated novel examines with startling honesty the prejudices. ambitions, familial ties, and the culture of India primarily as they manifest themselves in contemporary America. Mukherjee accomplishes this tapestry through the likeable, trustworthy voice of Tara. The result is an intimate portrait of a woman in transition. Mukherjee throws out exoticism for candidness, relying not on lyrical prose but on insight. For these reasons, DESIRABLE DAUGHTERS is a refreshing addition to the canon of contemporary Indian literature.The major flaw of this novel is the contrived full-circle ending. Mukherjee is absolutely brilliant up to this point, and manages to pull off potentially melodramatic material in a sensitive, believable manner. Until the disappointing final section, I would have ranked this book as one of my all-time favorites. The momentum and the emotional drive is lost, and the reader is left with little to hang onto except the final line. Still, what comes before is stunning in its execution.With its page-turning danger and vibrant description, this novel should appeal to readers who enjoy both plot and thematic depth to their fiction. Especially if you enjoy the works of Jhumpa Lahiri and Anita Desai, you're likely to find yourself engrossed in this wonderful novel.

Great Book!

This was the first of Bharati Mukherjee's books that I read. It was a wonderful book and her writing style is beautiful. I've read the other reviews and some have seen her extensive descriptions of the charactor's religious and cultural backgrounds as negative. I, on the other hand, bought the book for those very descriptive backgrounds and was not dissapointed! As the American/caucasion wife to an Indo-American Bengali Brahmin and the mother of our 4 mixed heritage children, I found the book an enormous education into my husband's family heritage and culture. I gained invaluable insite into the complexities of mixing 2 very different worlds and doing so while maintaining your sanity! I've since read Bharati Mukherjee's other books and have been equally excited and pleased with each one!Instead of dry - non-fictional - text-book type reading, her books have given me the opportunity to learn and explore in the more pleasurable and even more insightful format of a beautifully narrated fictional story, gracefully intwined with religous, historical and cultural history lessons.

Definitely worth reading

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.

A stunning novel from a great writer

Bharati Mukherjee's "Desirable Daughters" is a stunning novel that combines serious, literary exploration of issues of identity and ethinicity in a multi-cultural world with mystery, adventure and cutting social commentary. It has one of the all-time great opening chapters. But the main story, though it seems at first more mundane because of its contemporary setting, is ultimately just as compelling and rewarding. Drawing on her own experience as a member of a Hindu Brahmin family who has successfully spanned cultures, Mukherjee introduces readers to a world that most Americans know not at all. This aspect of the novel I found to be fascinating, while the mystery that perks along in the background makes "Desirable Daughters" a real page-turner. By the end, I literally couldn't put it down.