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Sister India
by: Peggy Payne |
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Binding: Hardcover Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54 EAN: 9781573221764 Edition: First Edition ISBN: 1573221767 Label: Riverhead Hardcover Manufacturer: Riverhead Hardcover Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 288 Publication Date: January 15, 2001 Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover Release Date: January 11, 2001 Studio: Riverhead Hardcover |
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| Customer Reviews | ||
  - A realistic look at the undercurrents of life in BenaresPeggy Payne is a travel writer and her attention to the tiny details when traveling come through in this book, her fourth. My husband who has lived and worked in Varanasi for almost 5 years, found it suprising that a "foreigner" could grasp the essence of the city so well. Sister India is a work of fiction, which tells multiple stories of the guests at the Saraswati Guesthouse managed by the formidable Madam Nataraja, but the true hero/heroine of this story is the city of Benares/Varanasi itself. Historically, one of the Holiest cities in India, a lot of "foreigners" visit this city on a quest. Each ones quest may be different. Some find answers, some do not. Some pass by as tourists ticking off another city off their list, some stay back and become a part of the teeming multitudes of the city. A bundh call by the city officials as a consequence of the unrest following a murder with religious tones forces the inmates of the Saraswati Guesthouse into closer quarters than normal. The forced isolation sets each one on a journey of the discovery of their self, leading them to remember incidents in the past that moulded them into who they are today. Would recommend the book to anyone who is visiting Benares and wants to get an idea of the city before arriving, a lay-of-the-land so to speak. Rating:  - Impressive!I'll admit that Varanasi is not my favorite city in India, too many touts! But the evocation in this book was astounding. The light on the river, the people on the banks, the maze of houses and temples. Just the right amount of description to let the mind fill in the whole picture of both the story and the city. Sometimes, as I was reading, I found myself saying "Exactly!" Well-developed characters, all interesting and complex. I particularly liked the way that she described the different spiritual/mystical/religious relationship that each character had with the Ganga. Keep up the great work, Peggy! I can't wait to see what's next. Rating: - Taste of India, Thin PlotThe prose of this book is beautiful and quite evocative of India even down to the fractured English used by the Indians , unfortunately there is little plot for the beautiful word smithing to hang on to. The characters for the most part seem shallow and poorly drawn as well. If you like to read beautiful prose without much of a plot this book is for you but if you are looking for plot and character development you'll be bored. Rating: - Americans Accept the Solace of Varanesi Despite ThemselvesMy curiosity about how the rest of the world sees America led me to this book, which I enjoyed greatly. It did show how Americans act when they are abroad--and the behavior they inspire among the locals. In this respect, Sister India promises a first hand view of the holy city of Varanasi, and delivers in spades. Reading the story of how friction between Hindus and Muslims changes three Americans in a shabby guest house, I found myself feeling the heat and smelling the river. Although the story focuses on the four-hundred pound American manager of the place--a woman who has escaped her unhappy small town past here-- it embraces the dramas of the other American characters as well. A curfew--as a result of attacks in the sacred city-- forces some self-realization on a crippled widow, an uptight businesswoman and an environmental expert whose marriage is falling apart. The combination of psychological insight into the characters and the exotic setting was mesmerizing and memorable. Rating:  - Not her first novel!One star rating is only because I haven't read this book. Two reviewers said that this is her first novel, but she wrote Revelation in 1988, set in her native North Carolina. It is now out of print, but received very good reviews when it was published. |
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