Sharmila's Book

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Sharmila Sen, Chicago-born graphic artist and aerobics instructor, is a "thoroughly modern" 32-year-old woman who's looking for lasting love and a way to get in touch with her Indian heritage. Reeling from a series of short, broken romances, Sharmila counterintuitively tries to achieve both goals with one move: bowing to her concerned, traditional Indian mother's wishes, Sharmila agrees to an arranged marriage. Soon, New Delhi electronics executive Raj Khosla, whom she has never met, is chosen as her fiance, and Sharmila moves to India, a country she vaguely remembers from a single childhood trip. The premise of Indian-born Seattle novelist (Shiva Dancing) Kirchner's amorous misadventure seems like a pretext for a witty dissection of some of India's anachronisms and rigidities, notably arranged marriage, male chauvinism and the stigmatization of lower-caste or "untouchable" persons. Sharmila, arriving in Delhi, tries hard to fall in love with Raj, even as she discovers that her exacting fiance, a stuffed shirt, travels constantly, beds other women and may be concealing a dark secret about the circumstances surrounding the death of his first wife. Fortunately, Sharmila comes to her senses when she discovers Raj in bed with the housemaid, and by then she's found genuine love with the Khoslas' chauffeur, honest, noble Prem, a well-educated "untouchable." But in one of the many improbable plot twists, Sharmila's mother destroys her plans to marry Prem, offending his pride with a $50,000 bribe to get lost. The novel bristles with postfeminist insights into "how women perpetuate their deplorable condition" in India, but more eerily describes how the families of the betrothed conspire to keep the ill-matched pair together despite their obvious discord. Though Kirchner's cautionary tale is sometimes smart, swift and funny, with rich dollops of local color, the story's unlikely trajectory makes it hard to muster much interest in Sharmila's romantic dilemma. (Mar.)

Library Journal

Sharmila Sen, a Chicago-born graphic artist raised with two cultures, makes the decision to travel to India and accept an arranged marriage. She is to spend the two months prior to the wedding with the family of her prospective groom. Gradually, Sharmila discovers in India a country that calls to her soul, meets a casteless family and develops personal relationships that will not be allowed to survive her marriage, and uncovers some uncomfortable truths about her betrothed and the accidental death of his first wife. In her second novel, Kirchner (Shiva Dancing, Dutton, 1998) tells a contemporary story enriched by a centuries-old culture. She creates strong visual images of the colors and complexities of modern India, weaving them with effective characterization into a captivating novel. Highly recommended for readers looking for something just a little bit different.--Caroline M. Hallsworth, Cambrian Coll., Ontario

Kirkus Reviews

From an Indian-born cookbook author and second-novelist (Shiva Dancing, 1998, etc.) comes this luminously evocative, if breathless, tale of the cultural fissures that emerge as a very modern woman contemplates an arranged marriage. Kirchner's tale is an affectionate grace note to the subcontinent as well as a sensual feast: she describes vividly the sights, sounds, and especially the food encountered by her protagonist, Sharmila. But at the same time, the story she tells, while provocative, does not serve Sharmila quite so well. Allegedly intelligent, an artist born and raised in Chicago by her immigrant parents, she's savvy and hip, but her reaction to lovers ("I glow from a momentary brush with fire") and the story itself seem more like brushes with the stuff of pulp fiction. After a number of disappointing relationships, thirtysomething Sharmila finally consents to her Hindu mother arranging a marriage for her. Mother soon finds someone-widower Raj Khosala-and Sharmila heads to India to get to know Raj and her future in-laws. At the airport in Delhi, she is met by both Raj and Prem, his "untouchable" driver. Raj is handsome and agreeable but leaves immediately on a business trip. Prem, who has a college degree, becomes Sharmila's tour guide. Meantime, Raj's mother is not exactly welcoming, and Sharmila soon learns that the well-born Khosala family has secrets: Raj's first wife died in the house, and Sharmila's father may be giving them a dowry despite her wishes to pay off their debts. Sharmila is attracted to and then repelled by Raj and his family, finds herself increasingly drawn to Prem, and-though initially delighting in all things Indian-moves inevitably toward findingthe culture ever more oppressive. The pressures increase as the wedding nears, as Sharmila's parents arrive, and as Sharmila herself must decide to whether cancel the engagement. Overall, multicultural romance lite. .