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12th out of 92 books
—
131 voters
The Mango Season
From the acclaimed author of A Breath of Fresh Air, this beautiful novel takes us to modern India during the height of the summer’s mango season. Heat, passion, and controversy explode as a woman is forced to decide between romance and tradition.
Every young Indian leaving the homeland for the United States is given the following orders by their parents: Don’t eat any cow (...more
Every young Indian leaving the homeland for the United States is given the following orders by their parents: Don’t eat any cow (...more
Paperback, 229 pages
Published
October 26th 2004
by Ballantine Books
(first published June 3rd 2003)
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In reading The Mango Season, I was introduced to a country and culture that I knew nothing about. You are immediately drawn into the culture of India, and the values of Indian family life. It is Mango Season and Priya returns home to tell her parents of news she knows they won’t want to hear. She has become engaged to everything that they are against. Living in the United States, Priya meets an American man and falls in love. Returning home to face the sweltering summer heat, the mango harvest,...more
The story basically evolves around the indian tradition and how it is a must for girls to save their money for the purpose of dowry when they get married later in future. It was also about the orthodox people who were very cautious about their status as Brahmins and getting married to someone out of their caste was forbidden.
The entire book takes place within a span of a few days (2-4), but is full of detail. The sights and sounds of India, even the smell and taste of mangoes, are abundantly described. It throws you right back to the Homeland.
The story is about a woman who, having grown up in India, has lived in the U.S. for the past 7 seven years (school, then career) and finally goes back for the express purpose of telling her family that she is engaged to and wants to marry an American. O_O
Amulya Malladi does a g...more
The story is about a woman who, having grown up in India, has lived in the U.S. for the past 7 seven years (school, then career) and finally goes back for the express purpose of telling her family that she is engaged to and wants to marry an American. O_O
Amulya Malladi does a g...more
I read this for book club, and while I didn't absolutely love the book, it was an enjoyable fast read.
Malladi does a great job of drawing readers into India - of course, there are the sensory pleasures, but even better than that are the depictions of Priya's family. Her grandparents were probably my favorite characters, but all of the women of the story were interesting. The only character that disappointed me (a little) was that of Priya herself.
It's not to say that I couldn't appreciate her p...more
Malladi does a great job of drawing readers into India - of course, there are the sensory pleasures, but even better than that are the depictions of Priya's family. Her grandparents were probably my favorite characters, but all of the women of the story were interesting. The only character that disappointed me (a little) was that of Priya herself.
It's not to say that I couldn't appreciate her p...more
While this is not your standard "romance", I'm still tagging it that way, because it deals with romance and love - or a lack thereof. Priya Rao returns after 7 years to her home in Hyderabad, AP to tell her parents she's marrying an American man. She finds herself changed more than she had expected, and sees her interactions with her family so differently, it distracts her from the reason she returned.
Intra-family interactions; marriage, love and romance; commitment to one's goals and desires c...more
Intra-family interactions; marriage, love and romance; commitment to one's goals and desires c...more
After seven years in America, Priya has returned to tell her parents that she's engaged to an American. Because she knows this decision isn't going to go down well with her very traditional family, she keeps stalling, and over the course of a couple days, she has the chance to see herself and her family members in different lights.
What I liked most about this book was the complicated family dynamics. Priya knows she has to live her life for herself, but she still struggles with the guilt of betr...more
What I liked most about this book was the complicated family dynamics. Priya knows she has to live her life for herself, but she still struggles with the guilt of betr...more
There are some books, which when once started are difficult to put down again. And lo behold, if you start reading such books late night. This happened to me yesterday. I started on Mango Season around 11 pm, reluctantly went to bed at 12.30, day dreamt about the characters while at work ( luckily or unluckily, today was a very busy day), read a bit more at lunch time, and finally finished it off at a stretch at around 9 pm today. My son had an inkling that I liked the book a bit too much, when...more
Indian girl moves to America. Falls in love with an American boy. Worries that her traditional family won’t accept him. Those three sentences pretty much sum up the entirety of this book, which had promise but fails to deliver in terms of creating three-dimensional characters. The first quarter of this novel consists of Priya, the main character, complaining about what a horrible person her mother is. The rest of the story gives her family similar treatment, reducing them to a collection of ster...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Feb 16, 2011
Jamila
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
South Asians
Amulya Malladi vividly describes a rich and vibrant India. It's beauty and it's ugliness are described in meticulous detail. We meet Priya and her large extended family early in the book. Priya is returning to India after seven years abroad to tell her family she is engaged to an American man. Her family members are described like characters from an Indian movie: the nagging mother, the modern brother, the mean aunt. Thankfully, Malladi develops the characters further as the book goes on.
Priya...more
Priya...more
Good story and a quick easy read. The description was great. I could see the places that where being described and the clothing, for example, that the women where wearing (good color descriptions).
I also appreciated the read portrayal of how Priya's family feels about her living in America, and her engagement to an American man. Learning about Nick at the very end was a complete surprise! Didn't see that coming.
Overall, I think that it could have been more. I don't really know how, but something...more
I also appreciated the read portrayal of how Priya's family feels about her living in America, and her engagement to an American man. Learning about Nick at the very end was a complete surprise! Didn't see that coming.
Overall, I think that it could have been more. I don't really know how, but something...more
Mar 18, 2009
Saima
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Saima by:
My cousin Saba
Easy to read and enjoyable. It is the story of a woman (Priya) who lives in America and is returning home to inform her family that she wants to marry an american man (Nick) - something that most asian families would probably dread! The book tries to show that attitudes eventually change and hopefully it is worth all the struggles and drama in the end. Beautiful descriptions of the country but not too over the top as to drag the story along. Plus there's a fair few recipes included at the beginn...more
I love India. I've been there several times, and written a book with my husband about some of our friends there. I loved this book because of the "insiders perspective" into an Indian family's life. People in the U.S.A. are usually very surprised when they find out that arranged marriages are still very common in India. There are many beneficial, successful marriages done this way, and many that are not.
My favorite part of this book is where the author says, "India was not just a country you vi...more
My favorite part of this book is where the author says, "India was not just a country you vi...more
I enjoyed reading this book, and finished it in one day but I thought that a typical Indian family could not be this mean to one another, which bothered me a little! I liked the story and the characters, but there were bits that seemed a little odd or distracting
(There were some phrases I didn't understand.
The e-mails were in all caps.
The author used some Indian expressions (like 'today morning' but omitted other obvious ones.
There was a reference to e-mail being down that made NO logical tec...more
(There were some phrases I didn't understand.
The e-mails were in all caps.
The author used some Indian expressions (like 'today morning' but omitted other obvious ones.
There was a reference to e-mail being down that made NO logical tec...more
This was good. I enjoyed learning about Priya and her family even though I had issues with a lot of their beliefs and actions. Honestly, I found myself able to visualize the characters in this book really easily and Priya's predicament in particular seemed to be understandable, although sometimes I felt like she didn't think enough about how her reluctance must seem to Nick. It saddened me to see how Priya's relationship and subsequent decision to marry outside of her culture and race could caus...more
Favorite Quotes:
Don’t kill yourself if you get pregnant, was my mother’s advice to me when I was fifteen years old…
Summer, while I was growing up, was all about mangoes.
[F:]air somehow always meant beautiful and having darker skin was a flaw…Nick was heartily amused when I told him how my own mother had discriminated against me because I was dark. He couldn’t see the subtle differences between the various shades of Indian dark…
Unlike most Indian men, Nanna didn’t care that Ma wanted him to get...more
Don’t kill yourself if you get pregnant, was my mother’s advice to me when I was fifteen years old…
Summer, while I was growing up, was all about mangoes.
[F:]air somehow always meant beautiful and having darker skin was a flaw…Nick was heartily amused when I told him how my own mother had discriminated against me because I was dark. He couldn’t see the subtle differences between the various shades of Indian dark…
Unlike most Indian men, Nanna didn’t care that Ma wanted him to get...more
A quick and pleasant read, but a shallow story, overall (esp. when compared to several novels* by fellow Indian/Pakistani authors I've read recently).
The novel covers the events of a few days, Priya's trip to India during which she is meant to inform her family about her impending marriage to her American fiance, interspersed with flashbacks and descriptive passages explaining what is presently going on and why.
I sometimes felt that some of these expository segments were merely 'filler materia...more
The novel covers the events of a few days, Priya's trip to India during which she is meant to inform her family about her impending marriage to her American fiance, interspersed with flashbacks and descriptive passages explaining what is presently going on and why.
I sometimes felt that some of these expository segments were merely 'filler materia...more
I enjoyed the book, but it read like a melodrama. I would put this on your to-read list if you enjoy a good story and have any parental (i.e., my family runs my life) issues. I could relate to the protagonist!
Ever since I was a little girl and a favorite aunt would arrive home with magical gifts made of brass or covered in tiny mirrors, I have been fascinated by India. I've never visited India, but after reading The Mango Season, I feel like I have not only visited, but have also been allowed into the intimate side of an Indian family's life.
Aside from the Indian family culture, the novel perfectly captures the clashes between generations: what it means to want to find your own happiness while strug...more
Aside from the Indian family culture, the novel perfectly captures the clashes between generations: what it means to want to find your own happiness while strug...more
I picked up this little book with the beautiful dust jacket while browsing in the local library and thought it might be a nice light read. I found the story compelling enough that I couldn't put it down even though it was the classic tale of an Indo-American girl fending off her parents' attempts to arrange a marriage for her with a "nice Indian boy". However, the book was about little else and the sturm and drang got to be a bit much after a while. The author did include numerous recipes as the...more
The Mango Season
Amulya Malladi (2003)
Not worth more than a quick read, maybe on the beach in the summer.
It’s the story of a woman who lives in the bay area with her fiancé and, after a seven-year absence, goes home to India to tell her extended Brahman family that she’s marrying a non-Indian.
I enjoyed the inclusion of recipes and the exploration of the woman’s world. Although I felt that the issue of racism both against Indians and within the Indian culture, the caste system and the 'bride-seei...more
Amulya Malladi (2003)
Not worth more than a quick read, maybe on the beach in the summer.
It’s the story of a woman who lives in the bay area with her fiancé and, after a seven-year absence, goes home to India to tell her extended Brahman family that she’s marrying a non-Indian.
I enjoyed the inclusion of recipes and the exploration of the woman’s world. Although I felt that the issue of racism both against Indians and within the Indian culture, the caste system and the 'bride-seei...more
Book #30 for 2011 - Meet Priya, a 27 year old native to India who has been living in the Silicon Valley for the last 7 years. She is returning to India for a visit. Oh, and to tell her parents that she has met and fallen in love with a *GASP* American man! I loved this story. Traditional Indian expectations meets 21st century life. Priya is forced to deal with her parents, her grandparents, her brother and her extended family regarding her relationship with the "evil American." A wonderful novel...more
This book, at first few reads, felt a little repetitive and the narrative voice of Priya rather hurt my mind to read, but soon I identified with and rooted for her. The novella is set almost entirely in India in a span of two weeks, and Priya basically endures internal conflicts between her traditional Indian family and her American fiancé, Nick.
At first, Priya is nervous, but once she lets it slip, the real drama begins. As more and more people find out, the more people begin to learn from her...more
At first, Priya is nervous, but once she lets it slip, the real drama begins. As more and more people find out, the more people begin to learn from her...more
This is an easy read. I've read better books with Indian characters, or even characters who are from India and now live in America. This one almost had too many stereotypes. Maybe it's really like that, but it was laid down a little too thick. There are recipes sprinkled throughout, though I don't know how easy it will be to make them for those who are interested, because it might be tough to obtain some of the ingredients. But what do I know? It adds a nice touch to the novel. I don't know how...more
I enjoyed this book quite a bit (more a 3 1/2 stars). I enjoyed the main character, Priya, although at times I did want her to be a bit stronger or speak up for herself a bit more (understanding, of course, the difficulty of returning home after 7 years and caught between 2 cultures and experiencing reverse culture shock). I enjoyed getting to know her family through the book, especially her father, and later some of the female members of her Indian extended family (who became more human as you...more
Oh my goodness, soooo boring. Such stereotypical, shallow characters. Indians are all so crazy and hyperemotional in comparison to Americans (also these are mutually exclusive categories), who are logical and rational. Indians use 'boy' to refer to grown men--that is so silly, Americans would never call grown women 'girls'! And nice liberal American families never have weird hang-ups about who their sons and daughters should be in relationships with. Because they are so rational. Unlike Indians,...more
This is a book about an Indian woman, Priya, who is home visiting her family after living in the United States for seven years. She struggles with having to tell her strict, traditional Indian family about the American man she is engaged to, as she knows they will not accept this and is afraid they will disown her. She's finally forced to decide between family and love when her parents and grandparents arrange for her to wed an Indian man.
We get to experience the sense of family important to thi...more
We get to experience the sense of family important to thi...more
It takes me a good chapter or two to get used to books that are set in different countries - especially non English-speaking countries. But, after the first 20 pages of The Mango Season, I really enjoyed the book.
It takes place in India in the summer, where the narrator, Priya, has returned home after spending eight years in the United States, where she works as a software engineer. She returns home to tell her very traditional family about her American fiance, Nick.
The book is really well-wri...more
It takes place in India in the summer, where the narrator, Priya, has returned home after spending eight years in the United States, where she works as a software engineer. She returns home to tell her very traditional family about her American fiance, Nick.
The book is really well-wri...more
I read another book by this author some time ago, and enjoyed this one just as much. It is a light and quick read with all the usual ingredients: an independent young woman, difficult family members with differing expectations, opposing eastern/westrern habits and values. This is a novel about love, family and forgiveness. There were times when I was frustrated with Priya and her reluctance to tell her family the truth about her relationship in America, as at other times she was very outspoken....more
Priya Rao had left India 7 years ago as a twenty year old student. For seven years she avoided coming back, and managed to flout most of the strict rules that her mother had handed out, most important of them all – not to marry a foreigner. Well, she’s not married him yet, but she’s engaged to him. And the biggest challenge she faces this holiday is to tell her parents all about Nick, the man in her life.
Returning back to India, Priya realizes that while she has changed a lot over the last few y...more
Returning back to India, Priya realizes that while she has changed a lot over the last few y...more
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Amulya Malladi is the author of five novels. She was born and raised in India and graduated with a bachelor's degree in engineering from Osmania University, Hyderabad, India. She received a master's degree in journalism from The University of Memphis, Tennessee, USA. After living in the United States for several years, Amulya now lives in Copenhagen, Denmark with her husband and two sons.
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“Kako može biti da samog sebe ne poznaješ?
Vjerujem da tačno znamo ko smo; da znamo svu istinu o sebi, i da je jedino glupo, kada ta istina nije prihvatljiva, pa onda želimo da kopamo dublje u našu savjest, u namjeri da nađemo nešto bolje, da nađemo nešto sa čim možemo živjeti.”
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Vjerujem da tačno znamo ko smo; da znamo svu istinu o sebi, i da je jedino glupo, kada ta istina nije prihvatljiva, pa onda želimo da kopamo dublje u našu savjest, u namjeri da nađemo nešto bolje, da nađemo nešto sa čim možemo živjeti.”
May 16, 2011 11:23am