A review by caitlinxmartin
One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

4.0

This slim novel is a wonderful multicultural take on Chaucer's [b:The Canterbury Tales|2696|The Canterbury Tales|Geoffrey Chaucer|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1261208589s/2696.jpg|986234]. The place is an Indian visa and passport office in a city that is unnamed, but is pretty obviously San Francisco. The people are nine survivors of an earthquake that has buried them underneath the rubble with multiple injuries, limited supplies, and water beginning to pour in. There is no obvious way out and so they must wait and figure out how to survive until rescue comes. The characters are diverse and as each of them takes a turn telling a story to pass the time we are reminded that everyone has something to live for and that our stories are what connects us.

This was an especially poignant read in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti. Divakaruni takes what could have been trite and cliched and turns it into something warm, human and unpredictable.