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sars05's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
alaiyo0685's review against another edition
3.0
The story was interesting enough but this book did NOT need to be this long. It would make a good movie or miniseries.
steverrread's review against another edition
4.0
A magical story of forbidden love, spanning three(3) continents and three(3) decades.
This novel is set against the Independence struggles of two(2) British colonies.
The story is of personal triumph against a brutal fate, brought to life by a colourful cast of three(3) characters.
Savitri, intuitive and charismatic, grows up among the servants of a pre-war English household in the Raj. But the traditional customs of her Brahmin family clash against English upper-class prejudice, threatening, her love for the privileged son of the house.
Nataraj, raised as the son of an idealistic doctor in rural South India, finds life in London heady, with girls and grass easily available … until he is summoned back home to face reality.
Saroj, her fire hidden by outward reserve, comes of age in (British) Guyana, South America. When her too-strict, orthodox Hindu father proves to have
feet of clay; she finally rebels against him... and even against her gentle, apparently docile Ma.
However, Ma harbours a deep secret... one that binds these three(3) so disparate lives and hurtles them towards a truth that could destroy their world.
I heard the audio version of this book, read by Anne Flosnik, a great reader !
This novel is set against the Independence struggles of two(2) British colonies.
The story is of personal triumph against a brutal fate, brought to life by a colourful cast of three(3) characters.
Savitri, intuitive and charismatic, grows up among the servants of a pre-war English household in the Raj. But the traditional customs of her Brahmin family clash against English upper-class prejudice, threatening, her love for the privileged son of the house.
Nataraj, raised as the son of an idealistic doctor in rural South India, finds life in London heady, with girls and grass easily available … until he is summoned back home to face reality.
Saroj, her fire hidden by outward reserve, comes of age in (British) Guyana, South America. When her too-strict, orthodox Hindu father proves to have
feet of clay; she finally rebels against him... and even against her gentle, apparently docile Ma.
However, Ma harbours a deep secret... one that binds these three(3) so disparate lives and hurtles them towards a truth that could destroy their world.
I heard the audio version of this book, read by Anne Flosnik, a great reader !
nlkdonahue's review against another edition
4.0
Probably 4.5 stars. Also loved this book. It did take some time to get the characters sorted out. A beautifully written book. The ending a little too predictable.
la_karina1818's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Racism, and Rape
nicolestep's review against another edition
2.0
As you can guess from the title, this book is about marriage. This book addresses marriage in a very subtle way. In fact, you may not catch it the first time around. Let me list some of the arranged marriages in this book to give you an idea:
-a clubfooted cook + the sweetest, most precious girl on the planet
-a lewd, awkward kid with a cracking voice, buck teeth, and an unhealthy Elvis obsession + a very smart, spirited girl
-an alcoholic who brags about beating his wife + a devoted, docile young woman
-a tyrannical bigot + a very devoted, loving, sweet-spirited young woman
By now you've figured out I was being facetious because this book is not subtle AT ALL. The mesage of this book is about as subtle as a Times Square billboard flashing "ARRANGED MARRIAGE BAD. TRUE LOVE GOOD."
So this leads me to wonder who exactly this message is for? This book was originally published in English in Great Britain, which to me implies a Western audience (although there are a large number of people of different ethnicities in the UK). This seems like an odd choice because in Western culture we already believe paying a man you've never met to take your daughter and turn her into a baby machine is morally wrong.
A better message for a Western audience would be an intricate portrait of Indian culture, an attempt to break stereotypes and give some depth to our notions of Indian culture. The thing is, this book kind of fails on that front. Every arranged marriage in this book is an unhappy mismatch. 90% of the Indian men in the story are awful. They make their way lying, oppressing, raping, and stealing through the story, while the few Indian women are strong, spirited, and oppressed. In fact, the only two consistently noble, moral men in the story (Doctor and Mr. Baldwin) are both white Englishmen. What does this tell the reader?
Ok, message of the story aside, how does this hold up as a novel?
This isn't the kind of book I normally read, but I relented after reading the glowing praise on Goodreads. Everyone was raving about the prose, so I settled down for sone Andre Aciman-level dynamic writing. Instead, here's what I got:
That's right, it was literally right there! Or how about:
Maybe that sentence reads differently in UK English, but in American English homely means ugly so...
Basically the prose was a disappointment, but that's what I get for going in with expectations. You might enjoy it if you enjoy long descriptions of architecture and flowers, because the author obviously does.
The first 150 pages did not grab me. I thought the POV shifts probably could've been better executed. I could never remember who was in which country in which time period. Also there were way too many character names thrown around. Repeating characters are an important motif, so it was really frustrating when multiple times I read a name that I knew I had read before but couldn't place.
In addition, the three main characters are all too precious as kids. I didn't need 100+ pages of beautiful, perfect children and really detailed descriptions of their surroundings that have no bearing whatsoever on the story. I feel like the editor clocked in around page 150.
The middle got better. Around the middle, I was thinking this would be a solid 3 star book. But the ending was absurd. The last act of this book was soap opera meets after school special, and it dragged on painfully long. I mean this book had way too many elements taken straight from a soap opera. I counted at least 3 chapters that end with Saroj passing out. This had the potential to be a really impactful story, but it threw away its power by resorting to cliches and melodrama. Any sympathy I felt for the chatacters was swallowed up by unrealistic circumstances or pain porn (or often both!) Plus there are too many characters doing a total 180 after only one event, just because it's convenient for the story. And I mean a total 180 .
This review has been really negative oops. I really did want to like this book, so let me end on a positive note.
While I wasn't floored by her prose, Sharon Maas did show herself to be a keen observer of huamn nature. This gift showed itself in little glimmers throughout this book. I could potentially be talked into reading one of her newer works. Also, once the book picked up, it never dragged. I read this 500 page behemoth in a week. Although some of the situations were painfully melodramatic, the author's language was always very straightforward and never indulged in maudlin sap.
In addition, the way she wove the three stories together was fantastic. I thought there was going to be a big reveal at the end where we find out how everything is connected. However, she started doling out answers in the middle. This added to the story, as it led to some great dramatic irony and foreshadowing. And even though she tips her hand early on, she withholds enough informatiom that we tear through the book looking for answers, all the way up to the last chapter. There was also a pleasantly surprising thread of magical realism woven throughout the story.
To conclude, this book was very different from what I normally enjoy. I believe we should all push ourselves as readers and try things outside our comfort zones, but this book just confimed what I know about myself as a reader. I'm gonna go back and read some classics to cleanse myself of this one.
-a clubfooted cook + the sweetest, most precious girl on the planet
-a lewd, awkward kid with a cracking voice, buck teeth, and an unhealthy Elvis obsession + a very smart, spirited girl
-an alcoholic who brags about beating his wife + a devoted, docile young woman
-a tyrannical bigot + a very devoted, loving, sweet-spirited young woman
By now you've figured out I was being facetious because this book is not subtle AT ALL. The mesage of this book is about as subtle as a Times Square billboard flashing "ARRANGED MARRIAGE BAD. TRUE LOVE GOOD."
So this leads me to wonder who exactly this message is for? This book was originally published in English in Great Britain, which to me implies a Western audience (although there are a large number of people of different ethnicities in the UK). This seems like an odd choice because in Western culture we already believe paying a man you've never met to take your daughter and turn her into a baby machine is morally wrong.
A better message for a Western audience would be an intricate portrait of Indian culture, an attempt to break stereotypes and give some depth to our notions of Indian culture. The thing is, this book kind of fails on that front. Every arranged marriage in this book is an unhappy mismatch. 90% of the Indian men in the story are awful. They make their way lying, oppressing, raping, and stealing through the story, while the few Indian women are strong, spirited, and oppressed. In fact, the only two consistently noble, moral men in the story (Doctor and Mr. Baldwin) are both white Englishmen. What does this tell the reader?
Ok, message of the story aside, how does this hold up as a novel?
This isn't the kind of book I normally read, but I relented after reading the glowing praise on Goodreads. Everyone was raving about the prose, so I settled down for sone Andre Aciman-level dynamic writing. Instead, here's what I got:
"You could literally see the rage just zapping out of her.
That's right, it was literally right there! Or how about:
"She is also beautiful and extremely homely."
Maybe that sentence reads differently in UK English, but in American English homely means ugly so...
Basically the prose was a disappointment, but that's what I get for going in with expectations. You might enjoy it if you enjoy long descriptions of architecture and flowers, because the author obviously does.
The first 150 pages did not grab me. I thought the POV shifts probably could've been better executed. I could never remember who was in which country in which time period. Also there were way too many character names thrown around. Repeating characters are an important motif, so it was really frustrating when multiple times I read a name that I knew I had read before but couldn't place.
In addition, the three main characters are all too precious as kids. I didn't need 100+ pages of beautiful, perfect children and really detailed descriptions of their surroundings that have no bearing whatsoever on the story. I feel like the editor clocked in around page 150.
The middle got better. Around the middle, I was thinking this would be a solid 3 star book. But the ending was absurd. The last act of this book was soap opera meets after school special, and it dragged on painfully long. I mean this book had way too many elements taken straight from a soap opera. I counted at least 3 chapters that end with Saroj passing out.
Spoiler
There are questions of paternity, long-lost siblings finding each other, a teen pregnancy that lasted ONE chapter and turned out to be a false alarm and never became relevant again (still mad about it). There were beautiful weekends on the beach right before shit hit the fan, husbands beating their wives into miscarriages, a really forced bullying scene that I guess was written by someone who had never spoken to children, dramatic deaths, forbidden love, etc etc.Spoiler
(Nat suddenly loving Indian after spending one night in a monsoon, Baba becoming completely rational after Ma's death, Saroj turning from her rebellion after I can't even be bothered to remember why)This review has been really negative oops. I really did want to like this book, so let me end on a positive note.
While I wasn't floored by her prose, Sharon Maas did show herself to be a keen observer of huamn nature. This gift showed itself in little glimmers throughout this book. I could potentially be talked into reading one of her newer works. Also, once the book picked up, it never dragged. I read this 500 page behemoth in a week. Although some of the situations were painfully melodramatic, the author's language was always very straightforward and never indulged in maudlin sap.
In addition, the way she wove the three stories together was fantastic. I thought there was going to be a big reveal at the end where we find out how everything is connected. However, she started doling out answers in the middle. This added to the story, as it led to some great dramatic irony and foreshadowing. And even though she tips her hand early on, she withholds enough informatiom that we tear through the book looking for answers, all the way up to the last chapter. There was also a pleasantly surprising thread of magical realism woven throughout the story.
To conclude, this book was very different from what I normally enjoy. I believe we should all push ourselves as readers and try things outside our comfort zones, but this book just confimed what I know about myself as a reader. I'm gonna go back and read some classics to cleanse myself of this one.
moodreader727's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
taniabotes's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed most of this book, specifically the fact that it had three different narrators living in different places and times. I loved the vivid descriptions of India, and it felt like I was experiencing it first hand, especially in Nat and Sav's stories. Unfortunately I thought the ending included too much drama, and too many twists.
The Story: Of Marriageable Age is the story of three different characters: Savitri, a servant girl growing up in British-ruled India; Nataraj, the son of a small-town doctor in South India; Saroj, a headstrong girl growing up in Guyana.
The Story: Of Marriageable Age is the story of three different characters: Savitri, a servant girl growing up in British-ruled India; Nataraj, the son of a small-town doctor in South India; Saroj, a headstrong girl growing up in Guyana.