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"Neel Sarath, an Indian-American anesthesiologist in San Francisco, believes he's distanced himself from traditional Indian life with his blonde American girlfriend, his Porsche, and his spotless, Pine-Sol-scented condo. But after his family tricks him into coming home for an arranged marriage, the newlyweds surprise each other. Neel discovers that Leila Krishnan, the woman who becomes his wife, is not a meek, traditional girl who can be set aside while life goes on as usual, girlfriend and all. Leila is a literature teacher from the small town in South India where Neel grew up, and she knows more about the world through her books than Neel has ever learned in his single-minded study of medicine. Leila, too, finds that being married to the distinguished Dr. Sarath is more difficult than she anticipated, maybe more than adjusting to a life outside India." Neel and Leila struggle to reconcile their own desires with the expectations of others in a story of two people, two countries, and two ways of life that may be more compatible than they seem. In A Good Indian Wife, Anne Cherlan explores what happens when complicated people get married first, and have to woo each other later.
| Price | Condition | Delivery | Seller | Action |
| $99.99 | Digital |
| WonderClub |
Jonathan Varner
reviewed A Good Indian Wife: A Novel on October 05, 2013
A Good Indian Wife: A Novel
Disclaimer: This might be a very emotional review. Oh, and I'm Indian.
I'm twenty two years old so I have no idea what it was like in the eighties. I am a nineties kid - my childhood moulded by hours of Mario Bros, cartoons like Tom and Jerry and other things. I don't know if this is why this book seems so alien and relatable to me.
Alien because I cannot comprehend why a woman with as much fire and smarts as Leila would stay with someone like Neel. Call me whatever you want but I was full of admiration for her when she was in a frenzy to either kill him or leave him, filled with rage at the mockery he was making out of her, her life and their marriage. But then she realized that she couldn't go back to India for obvious reasons (so many years later, divorce is still a stigma that makes my family shudder.). So, she lingers confused and then she finds out she's pregnant. Neel actually pushes her to get an abortion but she refuses. And then when things do a 360, she's all happy because life is as it should be. She's pregnant and Neel wants the baby and they're happy. A baby does not make things okay. I can't accept it. And I can't believe Neel lied like that. Does he honestly think Oona or Shanti aren't ever going to bring it up with Leila ever? One word, one reference and the whole thing could fall apart. Bring up the argument that Indian women aren't comfortable discussing their marriage and I'll point out that Oona isn't Indian. However, I did like the little snippets into Oona's thoughts, the frustration when she realizes that she will never know Indian tradition like an Indian woman does. That it will always cause a gulf between Sanjay and her.
Relatable because I can understand the compulsion to get married, the emotional blackmail that seems so foreign to non-Indians but is a term that every 20-something Indian knows. It's a part and parcel of our country, tucked away alongside the dosa, the colorful chutneys and the coconut. However, no matter how much I sympathized with Neel, I never really liked him. Leila on the other hand, Leila I could really get behind.
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Add A Good Indian Wife: A Novel, Neel Sarath, an Indian-American anesthesiologist in San Francisco, believes he's distanced himself from traditional Indian life with his blonde American girlfriend, his Porsche, and his spotless, Pine-Sol-scented condo. But after his family tricks him in, A Good Indian Wife: A Novel to the inventory that you are selling on WonderClubX
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