THE HINDI-BINDI CLUB
MONICA PRADHAN
ISBN# (13) 9780553384529/ (10) 055338452X
May 2007
Bantam Dell
1745 Broadway, New York NY 10019
Paperback
$12.00
431 Pages
Fiction
Rating: 5 Cups

Kiran Deshpande, who despite being a grown up and a doctor, still has to deal with her parents’ disapproval of her divorce. Now she is facing the fact that she might need their help finding Mr. Right.

Preity Lindstrom lives what on the surface is a perfect life with her loving husband and two children. But she hides a secret that shames and haunts her. However, the unearthing of it may hurt more than it heals.

Rani Tomashot’s mother and father are from two very different cultures, so she knows better than most how hard it is to stand between two worlds. This does not help her understand her heritage any better than her two friends, however, especially when it includes a grandmother from whom she may have inherited more than her artistic talents.

The Hindi-Bindi Club is what the three daughters call their mothers, because they speak Hindi and sometimes wear a Bindi. The mothers came to America because they wanted a better life; but they had to leave behind their ideals, families and heritage to find it. Even after all these years, sometimes; they wonder if it was worth it. The lives they led in India may not be the ones they would choose for their daughters, but it is still hard for them to let go of the past. After the daughters grew up, they dispersed and became strangers to their parents, each other and in some ways themselves. This is the story of all six of the women’s unique journeys to find themselves again.

The Hindi-Bindi Club leads you down different paths, by telling each of these women’s stories from their point of view and Ms. Pradhan does it beautifully. The older generation’s struggle to adjust to a new country and their attempts to keep their traditions alive for their children without hampering their freedom added extra depth to this story. I enjoy reading about other cultures when I have someone interesting to read about. Not only did the author include a whole cast of such characters but she put in their favorite recipes as well. However, I have to confess, I loved the Hindi-Bindi Club moms the best of all. Each heartbreak was a step back, each triumph, a step forward, making this very much like the dance that Kiran had to learn the steps to, complex and challenging, but all in all a very rewarding read that I cannot recommend highly enough.

Jenn
Reviewer For Coffee Time Romance
Reviewer For Karen Talk About New Books