A Good Indian Wife (Anne Cherian)

Another book with the Indian angle that I've been reading recently. I came across a brief review of this one in Yahoo! sometime last year, added it to my list, and got a copy of it from the library last week.

The story revolves around Neel (Suneel, that is), a 34? year old doctor in California who, by the devious machinations of his mom, aunt and taatapa back in India, gets trapped in an unwanted marriage. That being said, one might assume that you would empathise with the guy. On the contrary, I was just sitting there fuming at him as I turned the pages initially. The spineless guy does not extricate himself from the mess, but decides to just bury his head in the sand like an ostrich and hope it all goes away! When I finished the book, however, I thought to myself: how many times have 20-30-something Indians fought against parents and 'well-meaning' relatives only to find their so-called 'independent' spirit sag at the whole emotional blackmail saga? Understandable, his predicament. Neel has a white-girlfriend back home, and simply does not know what to do with his new wife. Add to that his 'good luck'. No visa issues to dump the wife back home, no spineless wife who would slink away at a challenge, no language issues since she is a Lit professor at a girls' college.

Which brings us to the wife Leila (rebelling against Neel's 'Lee'). Rejected by several suitors, and 30 to boot, she is happy to be getting married finally. She is spunky, for sure; but bows down to the age old story that the daughter's duty is to get married and bring glory to the family name, and more importantly, stop being a burden to her parents. So when Neel comes along, she hopes the suave 'Amrican' doctor will have jumped straight out of a Mills&Boons novel! Slowly she discovers that everything is not as it seems, and figures out that he is cheating on her. Her reactions at every step along the way, her blind acceptance of some facts, her desperation to live the life she dreamed of, are all well written. She gains her independence left to her own devices, finds a friend in Rekha and influences her, all the time refusing to get intimidated by Neel's attitude. The part where she struggles to be 'a good Indian wife' as her mother has ordered her to vs. dumping Neel's cheating ass and running away throws a whole new light on her character.

The ending is pretty predictable. But towards the end of the novel, you empathise with most of the characters, given their back-stories that are revealed in small doses throughout the novel. The believable flaws in the characters are refreshing, and while I wouldn't rave about this book, it is definitely a one-time-read.

A notable thread in the story: Leila's matchmaking sarees, and their cathartic effect towards the end.

3 stars / 5.