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And Laughter Fell from the Sky: A Novel

3.12 of 5 stars 3.12 · rating details · 118 ratings · 46 reviews

Still living at home despite a good career and financial independence, beautiful and sophisticated Rasika has always been the dutiful daughter. With her twenty-sixth birthday fast approaching, she agrees to an arranged marriage, all while trying to hide from her family her occasional dalliances with other men.

Abhay is everything an Indian-American son shouldn't be. Having...more

Paperback, 336 pages

Published June 19th 2012 by William Morrow Paperbacks

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Jul 31, 2012 McGuffy Morris rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a novel of two Indian families who immigrate to American. The families follow the same traditions of their heritage and culture. The story focuses on the relationship of an American-born adult child from each family.

Rasika is beautiful, smart, and the pride of her parents. Abhay is also intelligent, but rebellious to not only his parents, but society in general. He feels no responsibility or ties with his parent’s traditions.

Rasika agrees to an arranged marriage but then meets Abhay. Thi...more

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Jul 02, 2012 Laura rated it 2 of 5 stars

I have mixed feelings about this book. I liked reading about the dilemma that two young Indian-Americans, Rasika and Abhay, faced when dealing with their culture's traditions and pressures, but I disliked Rasika's character and was frustrated throughout my reading of this novel. Rasika is a twenty-five year-old beautiful woman, living at home in a wealthy family. She comes across as vain, spoiled and aloof. Abhay is a smart young man who doesn't know what he wants to do with his life, much to th...more I have mixed feelings about this book. I liked reading about the dilemma that two young Indian-Americans, Rasika and Abhay, faced when dealing with their culture's traditions and pressures, but I disliked Rasika's character and was frustrated throughout my reading of this novel. Rasika is a twenty-five year-old beautiful woman, living at home in a wealthy family. She comes across as vain, spoiled and aloof. Abhay is a smart young man who doesn't know what he wants to do with his life, much to the disappointment of his father. Although he has nothing in common with Rasika, who thinks he is not good enough for her, he falls in love with her and pursues her even as she agrees to an arranged marriage with a suitor chosen by her parents.

It quickly becomes clear that Rasika doesn't know how to deal with the pressure of an arranged marriage. The only reason she agrees to it is because she will have the ideal husband—handsome, well-educated, and doting. She thinks she has good values because she has grace, dresses well and is beautiful. However, she is promiscuous and has short-lived relationships with men to get away from the pressures of her parents. This is what she does with Abhay too. She sleeps with him and then wants nothing to do with him because she doesn't want her parents to find out about her double life, and besides, he is from a different caste and therefore would never be accepted by her parents as an acceptable husband.

Abhay, on the other hand, understands why Rasika acts the way she does, why she is so messed up, and even though he knows she only used him for sex, he still wants her. I kept wondering what would make these two get together in the end, if at all, since they were so different and it would take a big change in Rasika's way of thinking to even accept Abhay as an acceptable mate by her standards. The ending, although a happy one, was disappointing to me as a reader because the author took the easy way out where Rasika did not have to deal with her problem. Instead, a situation took care of that and the ending was too neatly tied up with a big red bow.

There was no resolution for me, just a quick-fix ending. The only reason that kept me reading this book was the psychological aspect of how children from two cultures deal with being from two different worlds. Okay, Rasika's coping mechanism is destroying her, so how does she finally confront the cause of her dilemma? How does she change? How does she grow as a person? Would she resort to the same tactics when things would get difficult in the future? None of this is clear by the end of the book.

So although I enjoyed the setting and the Indian culture, I had mixed feelings when reading this book, especially at the end when things became convenient for everyone. And I'm still trying to figure out the book's title, if that expression is significant in the Indian culture.
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Jun 18, 2012 Diane rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jane Eyre has been a perpetual favorite, but 2012 seems to be the Summer of Edith Wharton. Francesca Segal has written The Innocents, a novel set in modern London and a retelling of Wharton's The Age of Innocence. Claire McMillan modernizes The House of Mirth in The Gilded Age, set in Cleveland.

Jyotsna Sreenivasan also took inspiration from The House of Mirth for her debut novel, And Laughter Fell From The Sky, about Indian immigrants trying to maintain their culture and lifestyle in modern Ohio...more

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May 11, 2012 Kara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, romance

This is Sreenivasan's first novel, and I think it's a good start. The world she created was believable, and I cared about what happened to her characters. Rasika and Abhay live completely different lives with mindsets worlds apart, but you can see why they're drawn to each other. This isn't a love story that happens in a minute; they don't see each other and fall in love immediately. It's a slow, gradual thing: predictable but beautiful in its determination.

My problems with the novel were that t...more

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Nov 27, 2012 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, fiction, india

In the acknowledgments at the end of the book, Ms. Sreenivasan writes that And Laughter Fell from the Sky was inspired by The House of Mirth. While I didn't clue into that while I was reading the book, I can see what she meant now that I know. One of the reasons I love The House of Mirth is because it's about a time when society had very clear rules and expectations. And Laughter Fell from the Sky is set in present day but the parents in the Indian community in America also have clear rules and...more In the acknowledgments at the end of the book, Ms. Sreenivasan writes that And Laughter Fell from the Sky was inspired by The House of Mirth. While I didn't clue into that while I was reading the book, I can see what she meant now that I know. One of the reasons I love The House of Mirth is because it's about a time when society had very clear rules and expectations. And Laughter Fell from the Sky is set in present day but the parents in the Indian community in America also have clear rules and expectations for their children.

Rasika thinks she wants an arranged marriage but always seems to do something to mess it up before it can happen. Her motivation for wanting an arranged marriage was unclear to me. I think part of her wanted it to please her parents but I think also she thought it would be an easy way to ensure that she had a good-looking husband who makes a lot of money. She is more concerned with appearances than with substance.

It was hard for me to understand why Abhay was attracted to Rasika when she is pretty shallow and materialistic and he is almost the complete opposite. I think it was probably due to the fact that he thought he could save her from herself. I didn't care for Rasika very much but I did like Abhay so I wanted him to be happy. There are also some fun (and not so fun) secondary characters. Abhay's mother gets roped into a network marketing company that sounds suspiciously like Discovery Toys. That subplot was humorous.

Sometimes books about different cultures will either have explanations about the culture that sound text-book like and take the reader out of the story or no explanation at all, leaving the reader to wonder why characters are behaving in certain ways. The author of this book did a good job of weaving in explanations of the rules of Indian society into the story in a natural way that made them a part of the narrative.

And Laughter Fell From the Sky is a great modern day version of a Victorian romance novel. I'm looking forward to seeing what Ms. Sreenivasan comes out with next.
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Jun 28, 2012 Patty rated it 3 of 5 stars

I love a book where I can be entertained and learn something at the same time. I knew very little about Indian culture when I started and now I feel as if I have lived with a family for a bit as the story takes place in an Indian-American household where the daughter, Rasika, while born in India is really quite American in her thoughts and ideas. Her deepest wish is to be appreciated for her style and glamour; does it get any MORE American than that? She is reaching the age where her horoscope s...more

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Apr 15, 2012 Carol rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, asian-indian

And Laughter Fell from the Sky: A Novel by Jyotsna Sreenivasan is the author’s first book. I thought that it was a very good first novel. It kept my interest from the first page and it was rich with details about Indian culture and had some information about Hinduism.

In the back of the book, the author says that she took inspiration from Edith Wharton’s “The House of Mirth”. She altered the female role of Lily Bart from a woman living in the Gilded Age who aspired to make a good marriage and t...more And Laughter Fell from the Sky: A Novel by Jyotsna Sreenivasan is the author’s first book. I thought that it was a very good first novel. It kept my interest from the first page and it was rich with details about Indian culture and had some information about Hinduism.

In the back of the book, the author says that she took inspiration from Edith Wharton’s “The House of Mirth”. She altered the female role of Lily Bart from a woman living in the Gilded Age who aspired to make a good marriage and the male role from changed from a self-confident man to Indian American who had doubts about himself and what he should choose as career.

My feelings are that I identified with Abhay, the smart, indecisive Indian American but not all with Rasika, the beautiful, successful twenty-five year old Indian American but very self-centered woman. I didn’t like her character at all and could not understand why Abhay feel in love with her. I was not bored by this book at all. There was a lot of family drama and discussion by the women in the book about arranged marriages.

Rasika tries to be an obedient daughter, she tells herself that she will not get involved with men when her family thinks that she in not even dating. But like in school, she cheats on the exams and lies to herself about why she has to do that. She wants to please her parents but she finds herself failing. As a result, she ends up leading a double life.

Abhay always good exceptional grades and is curious about everything but cannot figure out what career to pursue. This reminds me of myself in college. I was so interested in so many things that I could not make up my mind what to learn about next. He had tried living in a commune but something was not quite right about his experience.

I did enjoy this book and hope that the author writes more but it would be better if she found the core idea from her own experience rather than a book that she has read. My only negative criticism is that I really didn’t like Rasika. I am eager to read and learn more from this talented new author.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about people with an Indian background living in United States.

I received this book as a giveaway from Library Thing and that in no way influenced my review.

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Mar 24, 2013 Faye rated it 4 of 5 stars

Rasika is a beautiful, dutiful Indian daughter living with her family in Ohio.
Abhay is an IndianAmerican son that is nothing desirable in the minds of his parents. he graduated from college with a general studies degree and has no interest or motivation for a future.
The parent have known each other. As adults Rasika and Abhay meet again. They become friends and fall in love. However Rasika goes to India with her parents where they arrange a marriage for her.
Life has strange changes and Rasika...more

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Jun 24, 2012 Buried In Print rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: coming-of-age, marriage, retellings, read-in-2012

Abhay sits on the grass in front of a bar, on the opening page of And Laughter Fell From the Sky.

The five-lane highway across from Kent State University is as hectic as the afternoon rush in Grand Central Station was, one hundred years ago, in Edith Wharton's A House of Mirth.

Selden is back from the country and is "refreshed by the sight of Miss Lily Bart" there.

Abhay, too, has returned from a disappointing experiment in rural commune life in Ohio, when the "breathtakingly beautiful" Rasika cros...more Abhay sits on the grass in front of a bar, on the opening page of And Laughter Fell From the Sky.

The five-lane highway across from Kent State University is as hectic as the afternoon rush in Grand Central Station was, one hundred years ago, in Edith Wharton's A House of Mirth.

Selden is back from the country and is "refreshed by the sight of Miss Lily Bart" there.

Abhay, too, has returned from a disappointing experiment in rural commune life in Ohio, when the "breathtakingly beautiful" Rasika crosses the street to talk to him.

There was "nothing remarkable about the way she walked" and "nothing new" about her but she was "radiant", "brilliant".

Edith Wharton's novel? Or Jyotsna Sreenivasan's debut? (Two from each, actually.)

It's easy to blur the lines, because Srennivasan's first novel was inspired by Edith Wharton's 1905 classic.

Could you say it's a trend? Perhaps Wharton has consistently inspired other writers throughout the years, but And Laughter Fell From the Sky is not the only current Wharton retelling.

Last year, Lev Raphael took The House of Mirth and revisioned it from the perspective of Jewish financier Simon Rosedale, in Rosedale in Love.

Claire McMillan's debut was also published last month, transforming Lily Bart into Ellie Hart, and doing away with those hundred years, in Gilded Age.

(What are the odds, that McMillan's novel is also set in Ohio, in Cleveland?)

And Francesca Segal takes The Age of Innocence and transplants it into a Jewish neighbourhood in London.

(If you love making reading lists, as I do, you'll have the makings of a good one here, along with Wharton's original texts.)

Jyotsna Sreenivasan's first novel transforms Lily and Selden into two young Indian-Americans: Rasika and Abhay.

One might expect that the contrast between life in the Gilded Age in early twentieth-century New York City and a contemporary Indian-American family in Ohio would be substantial.

But, in fact, the focus on marriage for the Lily Barts of the world is not that different from the experience that Rasika has, on her search for a suitable mate in the context of an arranged marriage.

"You cannot want to marry Abhay. And not just because of his caste, I can be open-minded if the boy is really special, but what has he done with himself? He has thrown away every opportunity."

Rasika's mother announces this early, when she has no real reason to think that Raskia would seriously entertain such a possibility. And, certainly, the dutiful daughter replies "I'm not interested in him, Amma".

But, in fact, there is more interest there than even she suspects herself. Though not the kind of interest that results in a page-turning read (this is a quiet novel, which concentrates on the inner workings of hearts and minds).

Rasika is focussed on action; she has established herself in a dependable and lucrative banking career and is now equally determined to succeed with an arranged marriage, following the traditional beliefs of her parents and family and horoscope.

She is optimistic that a perfect match will be found -- someone who shares her admiration for the finer things in life and a love of beauty, from physical features to fabrics to home decor -- and her parents are thrilled by their daughter's willingness to pursue a union of their choosing.

Abhay has been disappointed by the actions he has taken and is hesitant to pursue goals that he doesn't personally believe will yield any greater satisfaction. In turn, he has disappointed his parents, who wish he would study medicine, which his grades would have allowed, and settle into the kind of life they have imagined for him.

He is puzzled by Rasika's willingness to adopt such a traditional view of marriage and openly challenges her intentions and contradictions.

The third-person narrative alternates between the perspectives of each young person, their differences as compelling as their similarities.

For the most part, this works well, and keeps the pacing of the story steady, although occasionally an observation that might better suit one character appears in the other character's segment.

(For instance, Abhay observes Rasika tilting "her lips inward, as if to check the status of her lipstick", but it's hard to believe that Abhay, with only a younger sister and very limited relationship experience, would have recognized this detail in Restika's repertoire of perfection.)

Sometimes, there is the sense that something has been overexplained. Rasika hesitates to tell Abhay that she wants to impress people with her taste, beauty and elegance, because saying it out loud "would make it sound too crass". And, when it's stated that a character is speaking mostly in Tamil with the occasional English word, one might not require the explanation that "this was the way they spoke", and could simply accept the observation that a particular word (e.g. old-fashioned, top management) was spoken in English, as a way of emphasizing the qualities and situations that are not readily translatable.

However, this additional commentary might be appreciated by readers who are not familiar with the works of writers like Anita Rau Badami, Jhumpa Lahiri, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Tishani Doshi, Farzana Doctor and Bharati Mukherjee.

The sort of reader who wants to be friends with the characters in a book? Not likely to find a cozy spot in Jyotsna Sreenivasan's debut.

But the kind of reader who admires parallel imaginings? Who finds relationships of all sorts fascinating? Who has admired Edith Wharton's works despite (or because of) the fact that her heroines are irritating and lifelike?

That reader will quite likely find a solid match to be made with And Laughter Fell From the Sky.

(This response was originally posted here, on Buried In Print.)(less)

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Jul 22, 2012 Deb rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reading-for-review, fiction

Rasika has a secret life. To her family and friends she is a dutiful Indian daughter, stylish and beautiful with a great career, living at home with her parents and agreeing to an arranged marriage--which for good luck, her horoscope says needs to happen before her looming twenty-sixth birthday. The secret that would shock her family is that she sneaks away on occasion to have brief affairs with unsuitable men, something she vows she will stop once she is married and living the life her parents...more Rasika has a secret life. To her family and friends she is a dutiful Indian daughter, stylish and beautiful with a great career, living at home with her parents and agreeing to an arranged marriage--which for good luck, her horoscope says needs to happen before her looming twenty-sixth birthday. The secret that would shock her family is that she sneaks away on occasion to have brief affairs with unsuitable men, something she vows she will stop once she is married and living the life her parents want her to have. Abhay, a childhood friend of Rasika's younger brother, can't seem to commit to anything after college and lived in a commune following graduation. He is back at home with his parents, working as a temp and taking on assorted dead-end jobs, trying to figure out what to do with his life.

Rasika and Abhay reconnect by chance in and find an attraction quickly brewing. It turns to love for Abhay, but Rasika wants to deny her feelings, finding him immature and unsophisticated, plus his caste makes him a choice that her family would never approve of. Will these two lovers be able to find their places in the world and discover the strength to make a lasting relationship? I love a good romance--especially one where there are a lot of obstacles to the couple getting together and Rasika and Abhay certainly have a lot of obstacles.

Although I appreciated the storyline right off the bat and the book moves along quickly, going back and forth between the perspective of the two main characters, it took some time for me to connect with Raskia and Abhay. I found them in the beginning to be hard for me to relate to--even somewhat unlikeable at first. The book's setting moves from Kent, Ohio to Portland Oregon to India, and I found myself not fully committed to the book until we reached Portland--where Abhay goes to live and Rasika makes a secret trip to visit. Since The City of Roses is my old hometown, I loved the author's descriptions of the city and some of my favorite places and it was also the point where I started to like the two main characters and the book flowed from there. This book is a well-written look at Indian-American culture and the challenges of wanting to take another path than the one your family expects you to take or even completely laid out for you. A good summer read, not too heavy and good for vacation days and the beach.

*Note: I was given a copy of the advance proof of this book by the publisher to review. My opinion and thoughts are however, my own.

My review and a recipe inspired by the book can be found here: http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/20...(less)

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Aug 07, 2012 Meg rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sent-for-review, read-in-2012, contemporary-fiction

Jyotsna Sreenivasan's And Laughter Fell From The Sky, a modern story paying homage to Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, was a worthwhile read -- one that started slow but gradually picked up pace until I was hanging on by fraying fingernails.

Rasika is Sreenivasan's stand-out character: a woman torn between two very different worlds. There's her traditional side, her very Indian side -- the one in which she does as her parents ask. Obsessed with the fineries of life, Rasika knows her good job a...more Jyotsna Sreenivasan's And Laughter Fell From The Sky, a modern story paying homage to Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, was a worthwhile read -- one that started slow but gradually picked up pace until I was hanging on by fraying fingernails.

Rasika is Sreenivasan's stand-out character: a woman torn between two very different worlds. There's her traditional side, her very Indian side -- the one in which she does as her parents ask. Obsessed with the fineries of life, Rasika knows her good job and social standing are crucial to maintaining her image. But spin around and see the rebellious, hiding-a-smirk-behind-her-hand Rasika: the one that understands her family's viewpoints but doesn't agree. That side that sneaks around behind their backs, shimmying out of her skirt when they're not looking. The Rasika that wants to do only as she wishes.

I could relate to that, honestly. Not in a tawdry way -- just in the way that we all wear different hats, so to speak, and represent different things to different people. While outsiders might views arranged marriages with a skeptical eye, Rasika is very respectful of her parents' wishes -- and knows this arrangement would make them happy. Though Abhay is a charming guy, a nice kid, it can't go anywhere. Besides, they're not equals . . . not even in America. The die has been cast.

Or has is it?

So much of And Laughter Fell From The Sky centers on tension. Sexual, romantic, familial, job-related . . . obligation and love and obsession are all cast into one flavorful stew, and Sreenivasan's thought-provoking novel is the main dish. Beyond the "getting to know you" exposition in the beginning, the novel's pace is brisk and reflective. I felt the plot could veer in any number of different directions, which kept the experience fresh for me. And I really felt I'd climbed inside the heads of Rasika and Abhay, muttering under my breath when they were acting stupid.

Because they just did sometimes. Act stupid, that is. I was often frustrated by the pair and wondered why they couldn't just work things out, though Sreenivasan did an admirable job of explaining cultural conventions and the perspectives influencing their decisions. So even though I wanted them to just fix things, I understood why it was far more complicated than that. And I liked that there were no easy answers.

Fans of contemporary fiction, second-generation stories and glimpses of modern families will find plenty to ponder in And Laughter Fell From The Sky. Though the story occasionally raised my blood pressure, I found it realistic -- and you know, I just really liked it. It worked for me.(less)

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Jun 19, 2012 Anjana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc

I don't think I can put into words how much I enjoyed this book. I'm not sure if it's because of my eclectic taste or because I can relate to it, either way, And Laughter Fell from the Sky has a special place in my bookshelf.

Where do I even begin? Abhay and Rasika are two very different people. Rasika has always been the pretty, obedient, smart, classy and prized daughter that would make any parent (especially Indian) proud, whereas Abhay, despite being a genius, is a guy that opposes everythin...more I don't think I can put into words how much I enjoyed this book. I'm not sure if it's because of my eclectic taste or because I can relate to it, either way, And Laughter Fell from the Sky has a special place in my bookshelf.

Where do I even begin? Abhay and Rasika are two very different people. Rasika has always been the pretty, obedient, smart, classy and prized daughter that would make any parent (especially Indian) proud, whereas Abhay, despite being a genius, is a guy that opposes everything his parents (and society) tells him to do/believe and hasn't found any direction in his life.

I can't point out just one particular thing that I liked about this book. Jyotsna Sreenivasan has perfectly captured the mentality of a lot of Indian families that have immigrated to the US. I'm not kidding, she got it spot on. From the closed society, frequent visits to India, reason for moving (high-paying job) to arranged marriages - this book certainly gives you an insight into Indian culture, although it can't be generalized.

Rasika and Abhay are both from Indian families who've moved from India to the US. Despite living in the US for years, their parents still tell themselves it's not permanent to make themselves feel better and have formed a closed society of Indians to feel at home in a foreign country. The problem is, these parents/families don't realize the what goes on in the minds of their children.

Born in the US, Abhay feels no attachment to his Indian heritage, despite being pressured by his family to confine to his culture, and he has never pretended otherwise.
Rasika has done everything she could to please her family and finally, around the time she turns twenty six, she agrees to an arranged marriage. After all, it's what's expected of her. Rasika has tried to rebel, tried to find love on her own but her gut has only led her to make bad choices in men so eventually, she just decides to go with what her family wants. However, call it fate or destiny, she runs into Abhay before her engagement and as the blurb describes, sparks fly. That night turns into the start of a secret love affair between Abhay and Rasika.

Abhay and Rasika just..fit. He's erratic, without a clue about what he's going to do and Rasika, while on the surface looks like she has it all figured out, is still trying to find out who she really is, without her family telling her what she's supposed to do; and some how you just know that they're perfect for each other right from the start. Although flawed, he's the guy that makes her question her thoughts, actions and even her intentions; the guy that makes admit who she really is, instead of who she tries/pretends to be.
Although Abhay's not a guy I'd pick for myself, I loved Rasika as a protagonist. Her thoughts, doubts and insecurities touched me and it was amazing watching her grow into more throughout the novel.

However, it's not all perfect. Abhay annoyed me. Frequently. Like I said, he's not a character I'd pick for myself; his thoughts and way of speaking didn't seem natural because realistically, no one's so..in your face as soon as you meet them. I just didn't find him very appealing but I could overlook those flaws because I understood Rasika and her world.

And Laughter Fell from the Sky is a sweet, wonderful love story about two people trying to make their relationship work in a judgmental society. I honestly enjoyed this more than I can express.
For those of you who have no clue about Indian culture, Jyotsna's vivd descriptions, lively weddings, unique characters and secret love affairs will have you captivated. (less)

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Sep 04, 2012 Michelle Despres marked it as gave-up

Shelves: novel, usa

I made it to page 22 and gave up. There are too many great books waiting for me.

The writing seemed amateurish: characters who make speeches, unnatural conversation, too much telling and not enough showing, and lack of subtlety. This also isn't a book where I'd be underlining beautiful language.

The bizarre asides bothered me. The narrator interrupts a serious conversation to draw our attention to a scene that has nothing at all to do with the story: "In the middle of the room, a waiter pushed thr...more

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Apr 06, 2012 Sasha Strader rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: family, fiction, india

I was expecting another "My family is so wonderful, but I have other desires and they support me fully once I explain myself"

This was so much more realistic. No family is perfect and Sreenivasan doesn't try to pretend that Indian families are any better than American. They have expectations, they argue, they love, and they learn to move past things. Sometimes I wanted to slap the female lead in this book, but I can almost understand where she's coming from.

All things said, this book is very huma...more

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Nov 24, 2012 Eva rated it 3 of 5 stars

A book that was entertaining enough even if the main characters seemed too much like caricatures. The idealistic hipster living in Portland? And the ambitious career woman whose main worry is finding a husband? Really?

I found that the storyline, as well as the coupling, was increasingly implausible as the novel progressed. Nevertheless it was interesting to find a chick lit book about first-generation Indians negotiating between family expectations and modern ways.

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Nov 05, 2012 Mkherbouch rated it 3 of 5 stars

I was really disappointed with this book. I really expected the author to explore the idea of the conflict between living in a culture that is not the mainstream, or explore family dynamics, or the coming of age amidst family expectations, or . . . .you get the idea. Instead, I found myself struggling to connect with the protagonists and really questioning the story plot. I won't spoil the ending, but it all tied up a little to neatly and quickly at the end.

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Jun 27, 2012 Alicia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-books-read, 2012-reviews

I really liked this book. I have an odd fascination with arranged marriages, even in fiction, so I was excited to read a book detailing a traditional arranged marriage.

Abhay and Rasika were two extremely different people, but both came from Indian-American homes with traditional values. Rasika intended to let her parents arrange her marriage and Abhay had no such thoughts. I found it so interesting that Rasika would be so looked down upon for being seen with another man. That boggled my mind, bu...more

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Jan 13, 2013 Wendy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I loved the premise of the story: an Indian American woman struggling with her parents' traditional values and desire to find the perfect husband for her. What I didn't love: the writing. Initially, the writing was so amateuris, so trite, that I almost gave up the book. I'm glad I didn't because the story itself was really interesting. With a better editor, the writing could have been tightened up and the story could have been fleshed out a bit more. A reluctant 3 stars.

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Apr 12, 2013 Tonya rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-reads

LOVE LOVE LOVE! So not what I expected. I didn't expect to like this book that much!!

I loved both of these characters. Opposites attract eh!

Rasika is a 20-something young lady with no boyfriend or husband yet. So she agrees to go along with her culture and traditions and an arranged marriage.

Abhay is the opposite! He doesn't care about traditions, the rebellious man he is!

So the two are friends, but end up becoming more. Will Rasika go against her parents and marry Abhay? Abhay is SO not what h...more

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May 27, 2012 Keely Richmond rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 14, 2012 Samyuktha rated it 2 of 5 stars

I wasn't too impressed with this book. It's a light, easy read which is why I got it. But I found the author rather naive to the life and culture of Indian-Americans, in that, it felt like she brought together a bunch of stereotypes to put this book together. I think there add better books out there and would therefore not recommend this book to anyone.

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May 24, 2013 Miko Lee rated it 2 of 5 stars

An Indian American version of House of Mirth set in Cleveland. Focused on a dutiful daughter who is set to enter an arranged marriage prior to her 25th birthday until she reconnects with the free spirited friend of her younger brother and enters a forbidden secret affair. A predictable romantic romp.

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Aug 09, 2012 Emily rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was an enjoyable read and after reading the author's acknowledgments I enjoyed it even more. Sreenivasan explained how her idea for this story stemmed from her reading of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth (which happens to be one of my favorite novels). The juxtaposition of a Lily Bart-like situation in a modern Indian-American society was fascinating. Overall a very entertaining read.

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Oct 06, 2012 Molly rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was sooooooo wonderful! I wasn't sure how it would end, but was not disappointed. I have read a lot of books lately with ambiguous endings, and I appreciate that this ending was quite clear! I hope that Jyotsna Sreenivasan writes another novel soon!

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Jul 09, 2012 Pgchuis rated it 4 of 5 stars

I gave this 4 stars because bits of it were excellent. The portrayal of the Indian community in the US was good and the very ending, when everyone pretended this was what they had wanted, was funny. Overall, though, it was too long and unstructured.

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Jun 20, 2012 Laura Ellen rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a very charming, direct-and-smart novel. A love story! --very unlike what I usually read. I won't rehash the plot elements; others have done a much better job of describing the cultural issues that complicate Rasika's and Abhay's relationship, but I did want to underscore my appreciation for Sreenivasan's sense of place as the story moves from Northern Ohio to Oregon to India--she has a light touch that is utterly believable. Another stand out feature of the novel is in the dialogue, of...more

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Aug 05, 2012 Ellen rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love novels about other cultures, and the Indian culture depicted is rich with meaning. Abhay and Rasika are both looking dor perfection; their understanding eventually comes full circle, and they find each other.

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Jul 21, 2012 Jaclyn rated it 1 of 5 stars

I was hoping to like this book since it was marketed as a retelling of The House of Mirth, which I love, but I decided it wasn't for me after struggling through the first ten pages. Shoddy writing, annoying characters.

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May 18, 2013 Amita rated it 3 of 5 stars

written well and portrays how an Indian family thinks. I found Rasika's character quite exhausting and the ending was like a Bollywood movie but a good read anyway.

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Sep 19, 2012 Deborah rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: couldn-t-finish

I wanted to like this one, I really did. It is a genre I love (the Indian-American experience), but the writing was so.so.bad. I hung in there until the last 75 pages and then decided I didn't really care enough about any of the characters to see how it ended.

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About Jyotsna Sreenivasan

Jyotsna Sreenivasan, the daughter of Indian immigrants, was born and raised in Ohio. She earned an M.A. in English literature from the University of Michigan. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous literary magazines, and she has received literature grants from the Washington, D.C., Commission on the Arts and Humanities. The author of several nonfiction books published by academic presses and...more

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title link	preview: And Laughter Fell from the Sky: A Novel
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And Laughter Fell from the Sky: A Novel

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