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Sister of My Heart (Girls of Many Lands)

by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (Goodreads Author)

3.73 of 5 stars 3.73 · rating details · 27,971 ratings · 3,318 reviews

From the award-winning author of Mistress of Spices, the bestselling novel about the extraordinary bond between two women, and the family secrets and romantic jealousies that threaten to tear them apart.

Anju is the daughter of an upper-caste Calcutta family of distinction. Her cousin Sudha is the daughter of the black sheep of that same family. Sudha is startlingly beautif...more

Paperback, 322 pages

Published January 18th 2000 by Anchor (first published 1997)

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Aug 11, 2008 Nadiah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Reading this novel is like letting your heart be the passenger of the wildest roller coaster. And, for me, roller coaster is frustrating.

So, yes, I was frustrated reading this beautiful novel.

It is full of secrets, revealed one by one within the chapters. When the secret was out, I felt like leaving the book on the table. It was too hard to keep up with.

But, I couldn't.

So, I kept on reading until the last page. It was just too beautiful to leave behind.

The characters, Anju and Sudha, are the roo...more

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Apr 18, 2010 nat rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: various-fiction

"Hanya kisahlah... yang bisa menghindarkan keturunan kita dari membuat kesalahan besar seperti pengemis-pengemis buta yang menabrak duri-duri pagar kaktus."
(Chinua Achebe, from Anthills of The Savannah)

Usai menyelesaikan sebuah buku dari India lagi. Dan ternyata ceritanya sangat indah, tidak mengharu biru seperti film2 india kebanyakan. Aku merasakan ketangguhan hati seorang wanita di sini.
Novel karangan Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni ini dituturkan dari 2 sudut pandang tokoh utamanya, yaitu Anjali...more "Hanya kisahlah... yang bisa menghindarkan keturunan kita dari membuat kesalahan besar seperti pengemis-pengemis buta yang menabrak duri-duri pagar kaktus."
(Chinua Achebe, from Anthills of The Savannah)

Usai menyelesaikan sebuah buku dari India lagi. Dan ternyata ceritanya sangat indah, tidak mengharu biru seperti film2 india kebanyakan. Aku merasakan ketangguhan hati seorang wanita di sini.
Novel karangan Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni ini dituturkan dari 2 sudut pandang tokoh utamanya, yaitu Anjali (Anju) dan Basudha (Sudha).

Keduanya sebenarnya tidak memiliki hubungan darah, namun tumbuh bersama sebagai saudara sepupu sejak lahir, dengan waktu lahir yang tak jauh berselang. Karakter keduanya sangat berbeda, namun mereka menjadi saudara sehati yang saling mengisi. Anju yang tidak terlalu cantik, berkarakter aktif, kritis, cerdas, ekspresif, dan mempunyai cita-cita tinggi sebagai seorang wanita. Sudha yang lebih cantek, berkarakter kalem, lembut, perasa, penyayang, tekun, dan bercita-cita menjadi ibu dan istri yang baik.

Seiring dengan perjalanan hidup mereka, saat mereka masing2 akhirnya menikah melalui perjodohan, derita dan tantangan hidup mereka alami silih berganti. Walaupun hubungan mereka sempat renggang karena kecantikan Sudha yang memikat suami Anju, serta jarak Calcutta-California yang memisahkan, pada akhirnya mereka menemukan kedamaian dalam hati satu sama lain, bukan dalam suami2 mereka, yang ternyata tidak dapat mengerti perasaan wanita seperti Anju dan Sudha saling mengerti satu sama lain.Saat masalah berat menerpa di tengah mereka yang menantikan kelahiran anak pertama, mereka mulai bahu-membahu mendukung dan menguatkan, hubungan mereka kembali seperti saat mereka tumbuh bersama dalam sebuah rumah.
Akhir kisahnya mengharukan, sepucuk surat misterius menjawab semua tanya...dan memberikan kedamaian bagi Sudha.Memberikan keyakinan pada Sudha, bahwa ia menyayangi Anju bukan karena rasa bersalah, namun karena kasih yang murni sebagai saudara sehati ...

Novel ini disisipi dengan berbagai keunikan budaya India, dan berbagai isu yang mengemuka saat itu, bahwa keturunan masih dianggap sebagai alasan utama seseorang menikah. Dengan penuturan yang enak untuk diikuti, 320 halamannya tidak terasa menjemukan. Novel yang kaya akan kisah persaudaraan, persahabatan, kesabaran, pengorbanan, pengampunan, kekuatan dan ketangguhan para wanita dalam menjalani hidup yang berjalan m enyimpang begitu jauh dari impian semula ....namun akhirnya menemukan keindahan kehidupan dengan caranya sendiri ...

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Mar 23, 2011 Cassy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: physical-own, 2011, fiction-general, region-india, event-met-author

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and I go way back. She helps out as an on-stage interviewer for a great Houston-based reading series, Inprint. I was there when she was torn to shreds by Orhan Pamuk. I witnessed her redemption when her interview with friend, Amy Tan went more smoothly. Chitra is always smiling and approachable. She teaches creative writing at the University of Houston. I’ve heard her on the local NPR station. In short, she feels accessible to me.

Inprint flies in big name authors from...more Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and I go way back. She helps out as an on-stage interviewer for a great Houston-based reading series, Inprint. I was there when she was torn to shreds by Orhan Pamuk. I witnessed her redemption when her interview with friend, Amy Tan went more smoothly. Chitra is always smiling and approachable. She teaches creative writing at the University of Houston. I’ve heard her on the local NPR station. In short, she feels accessible to me.

Inprint flies in big name authors from all over the country and occasionally the world. So, when I heard Chitra was going to be featured (alongside Gish Jen) for the last event of the season, my first thought was “aww, they are doing her a favor” followed by “they must be trying to save money by getting someone local”. My cynical self didn’t consider that she might actually be a talented author. (I cannot believe I am admitting this!)

In fact, Chitra is quite a good storyteller. I would recommend this book to those who can handle a heavy dose of sentimentality. My eyes moistened with affection for the characters. My stomach grumbled as she described the delicious dishes and smells of India. My heart tightened at the sad turn of events. Looking back, some revelations were foreseeable. But I was so immersed in the story as I read that I did not bother to stop and cast predictions.

Chitra came to the event dressed in her sari as normal. In a refreshing departure from the blasé attitude of most authors, she was obviously excited to be there and sat on the edge of her chair. The interview asked how she started writing: Chitra was homesick during graduate school in the U.S. when she learned her grandfather had died back in India. In an effort to remember what he looked like, she started writing and continued as a closet writer for years.

I never fail to embarrass myself when I meet an author. As she was signing the book, I clutched my heart and crooned “I cannot believe you separated those two characters!” She flashed me an indulgent, but puzzled expression. “Well, you know she eventually goes back to India…” I gave her my blank, what-in-the-world face. It turns out there is a sequel, The Vine of Desire. Honestly, I was disappointed to learn this. I have read two other great, stand-alone novels this year that have unexpected sequels: These is My Words and Daughter of the Forest. What ever happened to leaving a good thing alone?
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Jan 30, 2013 Bettie added it · review of another edition

Shelves: one-penny-wonder, paper-read, published-1997, subcontinent, india, families, winter-20122013, tbr-busting-2013, abandoned

Dedication:

For those who told me stories
and those to whom
I tell them now<,
my grandfather, Nibaran Chandra Ghosh
my mother, Tatini Banerjee
and
my three men, Murthy, Anand and Abhay

Acknowledgements

Opening quote:


It is only the story... that saves our progeny
from blundering like blind beggars into the
spikes of the cactus fence

Chinua Achebe 'Anthills of the Savannah'

Opening:

BOOK ONE
THE PRINCESS IN THE PALACE OF SNAKES

One
SUDHA

They say in the old tales that the first night after a child is born, the...more Dedication:

For those who told me stories
and those to whom
I tell them now<,
my grandfather, Nibaran Chandra Ghosh
my mother, Tatini Banerjee
and
my three men, Murthy, Anand and Abhay

Acknowledgements

Opening quote:


It is only the story... that saves our progeny
from blundering like blind beggars into the
spikes of the cactus fence

Chinua Achebe 'Anthills of the Savannah'

Opening:

BOOK ONE
THE PRINCESS IN THE PALACE OF SNAKES

One
SUDHA

They say in the old tales that the first night after a child is born, the Bidhata Purush comes down to earth himself to decide what its fortune is to be.

A puerile coming of age story set, for the most, in Calcutta.

Abandoned TBR Busting 2013 (less)

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Aug 20, 2012 Shan Vrolijk rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

hm.. keren banget. beberapa nusuk banget ceritanya, seperti kenyataan kalo menikah bukan hal gampang. Sebaiknya pastikan sebelum menikah, orang yang kita nikahi benar-benar mencintai kita, karena pada saat pernikahan sudah terjadi, nggak ada lagi celah untuk mundur... kecuali, ya, dengan perceraian, yang amat dibenci Tuhan.

ada kata-kata yang masih menarik perhatianku:

saat seorang lelaki dan seorang perempuan bertemu pandangannya, ada seuntai tali emas yang mengikat mereka berdua. Bahkan setelah...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars

From Amazon.com:

From the award-winning author of Mistress of Spices, the bestselling novel about the extraordinary bond between two women, and the family secrets and romantic jealousies that threaten to tear them apart.

Anju is the daughter of an upper-caste Calcutta family of distinction. Her cousin Sudha is the daughter of the black sheep of that same family. Sudha is startlingly beautiful; Anju is not. Despite those differences, since the day on which the two girls were born, the same day thei...more

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Apr 30, 2012 Shannon rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book would make a great movie on the Lifetime network (and as I refuse to watch the Lifetime network, that's not saying much). However, Divakaruni has a beautiful writing style. Her color and sound imagery are fantastic and the descriptions are beautiful. I always imagine India to be overstimulating to the senses and this book kind of fits that expectation. The first half is tightly organized and the everything seems tied together with excellent character and plot development. In the second...more

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Apr 22, 2011 Veic Book added it

Hello My Literary Lady Friends,

Please join me on April 10th at 41 Morgan Street for our monthly Book Club shenanigans. The book is Sister of My Heart by Chitra Divakaruni.

I have created a sign-up sheet at \\ERH\VOL1\Veic\ORGANI~1\NONWOR~1\BOOKCL~1\SIYUHB~1.DOC for food. I haven't decided what to feed ya'll yet but I'll let you know when the time gets closer. Jess, can you pass this on to Jen? Thanks!

Directions to my abode:

Head north on North Avenue. Our street is off North Ave but quite far d...more

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Aug 21, 2010 Ellya Khristi rated it 3 of 5 stars

Dua wanita, yang dilahirkan dalam waktu yang hampir bersamaan, mengikat janji sebagai saudara sehati, menjalani takdirnya masing-masing sesuai jalan yang mereka pilih. Diceritakan dengan menggunakan sudut pandang dua orang tokoh utama di buku ini, Anju dan Sudha, masing-masing mengungkapkan rahasia-rahasia yang selama ini mereka pendam. Anju, putri keluarga berkasta tinggi di Calcutta. Penampilannya biasa-biasa saja, cerdas, keras kepala, dan suka membangkang. Sepupunya, Sudha, adalah putri “kam...more Dua wanita, yang dilahirkan dalam waktu yang hampir bersamaan, mengikat janji sebagai saudara sehati, menjalani takdirnya masing-masing sesuai jalan yang mereka pilih. Diceritakan dengan menggunakan sudut pandang dua orang tokoh utama di buku ini, Anju dan Sudha, masing-masing mengungkapkan rahasia-rahasia yang selama ini mereka pendam. Anju, putri keluarga berkasta tinggi di Calcutta. Penampilannya biasa-biasa saja, cerdas, keras kepala, dan suka membangkang. Sepupunya, Sudha, adalah putri “kambing hitam” keluarga itu. Penampilannya cantik, serius, berhati lembut, dan penurut.

Suatu ketika kehidupan mereka berubah total. Mereka dijodohkan dan diharuskan segera menikah. Anju menikah dengan pemuda yang disukainya saat perjodohan, dan Sudha menikah dengan orang yang dijodohkan dengannya walau ia mencintai orang lain, dengan alasan ini demi Anju. Keluarga mertua Anju tak akan menerima Anju kalau ada anggota keluarga Anju yang bermasalah. Demi kasihnya pada Anju, Sudha mengorbankan perasaannya sendiri… Lalu tragedi menimpa mereka berdua, dan mereka akhirnya menyadari, walau terpisah jarak, mereka terhubung satu sama lain.

Dengan latar belakang kultur dan budaya India yang kental, buku ini mengingatkanku pada The Hundred Secrets yang pernah aku baca dulu, yang juga kaya dengan kultur dan budaya Cina masa lampau.

“…Kalau memikirkan masa laluku, aku paling sering teringat Anju. Begitu banyak bayangan terjalin dalam benakku. Anju bermain lompat-lompat bersamaku di teras kami, bertekad ingin menang, tetapi selalu menghadiahi aku pelukan erat dan ciuman basah bila ternyata aku menang. Anju, matanya berbinar dengan niat nakal, membujukku untuk makan piajis bawang dari para penjaja di pinggir jalan. Kemudian, matanya gelap penuh penyesalan ketika ia memegang kepalaku sementara aku muntah di kamar mandi. Anju dengan wajah merah karena marah, membelaku terhadap bentakan Ibu. Anju dengan impiannya untuk bisa kuliah yang hancur, menangis di tempat tidurku. Anju dengan wajah seperti malam penuh bintang ketika menceritakan Sunil padaku. Tetapi selalu pada akhirnya aku melihat Anju pada saat pesta pernikahan kami. Di balik kerudungnya yang tipis, berkilau keemasan, matanya seolah terpahat dari marmer hitam ketika ia memandang Sunil lalu aku lalu kembali lagi.” (hal.176)
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Feb 01, 2010 Lktrigueros rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wish there were more books like this! It's as sentimental as it sounds, but the author makes it work. Loved the theme of sisterhood, the backdrop of traditional India, and the beautiful story.

The story never dragged, but I can't say the pace was perfect. I didn't like feeling manipulated into reading faster than I wanted to because of ominous foreshadowing at the end of many chapters; it took away from savoring the writing at my own leisure because I had to plow ahead to see what happened.

The...more

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Nov 22, 2009 Judy rated it 4 of 5 stars

This author is an artist with words. She writes beautifully. I picked up the novel because her book of short stories, Arranged Marriage, was written so beautifully, and this one did not let me down. One element of the plot seemed predictable to me, but the character and theme development, the poetry of her language are transcendent and contain the complexity of human relationships. I read it in Greece and meant to leave it there but I couldn't leave it because I thought it was so powerful, so lo...more

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Feb 03, 2012 Pooja Dimba rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have to say I'm not a big fan of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, but this book is probably one of the most beautifully written books I've ever read. It's woven with so much emotion, that it made me feel like crying at so many points.

When I started reading this book, several times I wanted to put it away and not continue reading it, but it kept calling out to me telling me to finish it. I finally just sat down and read the whole thing through in about three hours. I wanted to soak in every word.

I...more

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May 26, 2011 Ajay Pradhan rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a late review. The book was published eleven years ago in 1999 by Doubleday. Yet, I hadn’t heard of the author until this month, even though I have seen the movie “Mistress of Spices”, based on her novel by the same title. After reading the book, I read a number of reviews of the novel. I wanted to see what other readers, critics and reviewers thought of the novel, especially the author’s style. Most reviews I read gave positive review of the novel and extolled the author’s gift of writi...more This is a late review. The book was published eleven years ago in 1999 by Doubleday. Yet, I hadn’t heard of the author until this month, even though I have seen the movie “Mistress of Spices”, based on her novel by the same title. After reading the book, I read a number of reviews of the novel. I wanted to see what other readers, critics and reviewers thought of the novel, especially the author’s style. Most reviews I read gave positive review of the novel and extolled the author’s gift of writing. But, I didn’t find in those reviews what I was looking for—her style and the beautiful employment of fiction metaphors and similes. Therefore, I decided to write this review.

The story is about two young women, Anju and Sudha, who are cousins, who grow up together, and who are born on the same day, the day both of their fathers die in suspicious circumstances in the predator-infested thick mangrove jungles of the Sundarbans. Despite the element of mystery and curiosity about the death of the fathers, this is not a mystery novel. It’s not a genre or popular fiction. It’s far from being a commercial fiction. The circumstances of the girls’ fathers’ death, therefore, is not the main line of the story, but only a critical foundation which thrusts the two girls to a lifetime of bonding as it does their mothers, Gouri Ma and Aunt N, and an aunt, Pishi, who all live in the same house as a close-knit family. With fathers dead and no other male members in the family, the upper-class Calcutta family of three women and two girls forms the central unit of the story. The story is about the relationship and bonding between Anju and Sudha, whose love and affection for each other is full of selfless sacrifice, open truthfulness, mutual dependence, cathartic devotion, and, at times, with slight jealousy. The author adeptly traces the story of the two young women from their childhood to their womanhood, as told in first-person narrative alternately by Anju and Sudha. Each is the sister of the heart of the other.

This review is, however, not so much about the story itself as it is about the author’s writing style. The novel is a literary fiction. The story is driven, as are all literary fictions, more by characters than by plot. Some acerbic commentators hint that literary fiction is a neologism and, despite the poetic and lyrical metaphors and similes that enhance the elegance of prose, makes the story unreadable. Notwithstanding, the generally accepted notion that literary fiction is the work of superior intellectual mettle than are those of genre, popular or commercial fiction. I do not agree that literary fiction is mostly unreadable. I believe those who make such harsh and unfair judgment are those who wish to read in literary fiction what are essentially the domain of commercial or genre fiction—stories essentially driven by plot. I do not imply that genre or commercial fiction are any less better (I actually enjoy them, whether Frederick Forsyth’s international political and crime intrigues or John Grisham’s legal suspense in the suburbia of America); I only say that Divakaruni’s work stands in a category that is obviously different from commercial fiction.

Divakaruni artfully tells the story in narratives full of similes and metaphors. Her prose is lyrical and is poetic. Divakaruni’s liberal and artful use of metaphors, which is mostly used in poetry, paints the story with a poet’s mind. She is, in fact, an award-winning poet (which I learn from the author’s introduction in the book). Divakaruni’s prose reads like poetry, even without verse. Her use of trope or figure of speech, while making sure they don’t sound trite, makes the story warm and pleasurable reading.

Divakaruni is an exceptional writer. But, of course, she is not the first literary fiction writer who liberally uses metaphors as prose style. Norman Mailer, a literary giant, for example, is a master storyteller who packs metaphors in his stories. Divakaruni’s use of metaphors, drama and passionately living characterization reveal her exquisite cognitive ability to observe or imagine lives in intimate and rich details and tell them in a way that makes readers feel they are not only observing a story but are, in fact, in the story. Her ability to engage readers is amazing.

One of Divakaruni’s unique style is that she creates her own metaphors that are at once meaningful to readers, instead of using the ones that have existed and been used by others (e.g., “bright as pomegranate juice” to describe a smile, or “my mouth is crowded with gravel” to describe how the narrator feels the need to retort to something she doesn’t like, or “the sun paints the wall golden” to tell the reader that the sun has shone in the room, or “smooth as molasses” to describe the smoothness of spoken words). This metaphorology is Divakaruni’s gift to readers, in addition to the story itself. This style adds additional dimension to Divakaruni’s skill as an author—that of a linguist using semiotics, symbolism and, to some extent, mysticism of words and phrases. She deftly spares the readers of archaism in her style, maintaining the high level of reader engagement and interest from beginning to the end. She elevates the work of storytelling to an art form.

Divakaruni weaves into the story elements of conflict as part of the story structure that keeps the readers engaged. The conflicts in her story are based more on characters than on plots. As a reader, I felt as though I was in the same room while the protagonists were engrossed in conversation, oblivious of my presence. She introduces element of curiosity, if not mystery, into the story in the early part of the story as a conflict that she resolves only near the end of the story (when Sudha, along with her infant daughter, Dayita, are on their plane flight to America). Between this early conflict and the eventual resolution, there is a lot of action in characterization. The characters in her story drive the plot.

This is Divakaruni's first and only novel that I’ve had the pleasure of reading so far. It’s an emotional story that has an intellectual impact like such that a linguist and author with rich imagination can make. I liked the book for its warmth depiction of female bonding amidst complexities of life and wondered why I hadn’t heard of the author before, much less read any of her novels. Although literary fictions are not the primary source of information about cross-cultures; this novel provides a literary vehicle for cross-cultural readers to understand and enjoy Bengali culture and society in Calcutta.

When I completed reading the story, I couldn’t help but wonder if Sudha was going to return to Calcutta from her sojourn to America. The novel stood well on its own as a complete story; but there are several strands that I couldn’t help but wonder about how they would progress. I wanted to know what would happen to Singhji and whether Sudha would see him again and how she would feel if she did. I wanted to know what would happen to the trinity of women in the family, Gouri Ma, Aunt Nalini and Pishi. And, of course, most of all, I wanted to know what would happen to Ashok, the man Sudha loved but sacrificed not once but twice—for Anju, the sister of her heart.

Before I close this review, I must say one thing. I have the bad habit of reading multiple books simultaneously. When I started reading this book, I had already read about a hundred pages of “The Hungry Tide”, a novel by Amitav Ghosh. I found the story too enjoyable to put the book down and go back to Ghosh’s book. As much as I was enjoying Ghosh's book, too, it just had to wait.

After reading the novel, when I found out that Divakaruni wrote a sequel to the story later, “The Vine of Desire” in 2002, I couldn’t help but feel good. I immediately started looking forward to reading it. After one book, I have become a Divakaruni fan. She is a brilliant storyteller.

Note: I wrote this review on February 15, 2010 and shared with the author through her Facebook page.(less)

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Aug 07, 2012 Amardip rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 4and5stars

I really enjoyed this book. It is easy to read and compelling and hard to put down. I felt the characters were well-developed and I enjoyed the way that the chapters alternated between being narrated by the two main characters. The plot has some twists and turns, which keeps the story moving forward. In some ways, these twists and turns are not really credible, but at the same time they reminded me of an 80s Bollywood movie. (I could almost hear the dramatic music and see the close-up of the sho...more

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Jul 28, 2012 Siddha Malilang rated it 3 of 5 stars

First thing I noticed after taking this book from the shelves in the book store is the drama. I was completely aware that the Bollywood style girlish drama will occupy most of the books. However, to my surprise, this book manages to present the social problem in India beautifully. Anju and Sudha appeal to me as the exemplary bond of friendship. The discrepancy between the rich and the poor is so strong in the setting, yet these two girls are the real embodiment of the title.

In some ways, the si...more

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Mar 08, 2011 April rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-reads

Beautiful story of two cousins battling opposing forces while bonded by tragedy and torn apart by secrecy.

The girls, born in a time where individuality is stiffled by strict cultural tradition and social norms dictate much of one's being. American ideas of indpendence and education have creeped into conversations and linger as possiblity. Anju is in constant opposition of tradition. She longs for America and a college education. Sudha, born with exquisite beauty, her future remains unsure as sh...more

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Feb 03, 2011 Chana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-family-drama, india, released-through-bookcrossing

A romantic, coming-of-age, family saga in Calcutta, India. Two girls growing up in the same household, bonded so strongly even at birth that they grow up sharing inner hearts, as the title says "sister of my heart". The girls are both fatherless as their fathers passed away in the same sad and mysterious accident right before the girls were born. The girls are raised by the "3 mothers" and eventually marry, which is complex in itself.
One of the things that I really liked about this book is the p...more

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Mar 02, 2013 Sharon rated it 5 of 5 stars

Sudha and Anju are cousins who are as close as sisters. They live in a house with the women they call their three mothers: their two biological mothers and an aunt. The family is one of the most privileged in Calcutta, until Sudha's father runs off with Anju's father in pursuit of a get-rich-quick scheme and both men die.

Throughout the book, we learn a great deal about traditional women's roles in India, as well as how both girls chafe under them. Sudha wants to marry for love; Anju wants to go...more

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Mar 15, 2013 Simran rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

This book, read over a period of five days, has made its way deeeeeep into my heart. I wish I never had to turn to the last page. I wish I could still go on reading the story of these two wonderful women, Sudha and Anju. The immense love they had for each other, and the joy and sorrows of their lives. Every emotion, each and every emotion has been beautifully presented in the story. Love, loss, hate, jealousy, longing, nostalgia and most of all the joys of motherhood. The hope that it gives a wo...more

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Jun 24, 2011 Ape rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: south-asia-india-pakistan-etc

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I finished off this book this evening whilst we've got an Andy Murry tennis match on tv in the background (it's Wimbledon!). Anyway, I enjoyed this book, so it's distracting me from the match. It was a good read, quite addictive, and I'm so glad Bjorg also passed on to me the next book =). I'd also be quite interested to read some of Divakaruni's other books.

So, this is a kind of family melodrama-saga, in some ways the usual standard thing, not particularly surprising or shocking - the sub plot...more

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Apr 09, 2011 Russ rated it 4 of 5 stars

I picked this book up at a thrift store for .99 when I picked up a new course shirt for the wilderness. Not the type of book I'd seek out, but I'd been gone from India for over a year and I missed the tales woven into Bollywood Films and I sensed this book might be full of the drama you could only find from and Indian writer. I was not disappointed. The tale of the two cousins love for one another, the loves and betrayals that came into their lives, the conflict of family and societal expectatio...more

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May 17, 2011 Mary Gray rated it 3 of 5 stars

I've often wished that Goodreads let us give two ratings for a book: one for how much we enjoyed it, the other how much we respect it. I could give this book four or maybe even five stars for respect. The writing, on a line by line basis is beautiful. Divakaruni's metaphorical language flows naturally and elegantly. She is also a strong storyteller. I especially liked how her ending was happy but gave us one unresolved issue to make us worry/continue thinking about the characters.

As for enjoymen...more

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Apr 03, 2009 Indah ip rated it 4 of 5 stars

Dapat buku ini di pesta discountnya MPH. Lumayan 50% dari harga normal, beli 2 buku Tony Parsons dapat 1 bonus. Awalnya asal ambil aja, baca ringkasan belakangnya.

Tapi,..setelah baca sampai selesai ternyata ceritanya menarik juga. Jadi penasaran sama buku2nya Divakaruni.

Tentang dua orang gadis, tumbuh rapat sebagai sepupu. Apapun yang dilakukan selalu bersama-sama. Suatu hari salah satu menemukan rahasia masa lalu. Hal ini membuat hubungan mereka berbeda.

Sebelum menikah dan setelah menikah ada p...more

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Sep 24, 2012 Ariel Uppstrom rated it 4 of 5 stars

I found this book to be very enjoyable and culturally instructive. I love reading books about India because they tend to be very descriptive and have stories in stories. This was no different.

The story follows two girls who are raised as cousins (Sudha and Anju), though the reader and one of the girls discovers that they are actually not related, who are forced into arranged marriages. The back story is that these girls' fathers died before they were born and some believe Sudha's father murdere...more I found this book to be very enjoyable and culturally instructive. I love reading books about India because they tend to be very descriptive and have stories in stories. This was no different.

The story follows two girls who are raised as cousins (Sudha and Anju), though the reader and one of the girls discovers that they are actually not related, who are forced into arranged marriages. The back story is that these girls' fathers died before they were born and some believe Sudha's father murdered Anju's father. Sudha is the only one that knows any of this story but keeps it to herself. While this occurs, Sudha is madly in love with someone from a lower caste, but agrees to marry a man she has no interest in so that her cousin, Anju, can have a safe marriage with someone Anju is infatuated. Anju's marriage leads her to America where she goes to study and is treated very well by her husband. Unfortunately, Anju knows that her husband has a secret love for Sudha, though none of the people discuss it. Sudha's marriage turns out to be acceptable and one of mutual respect. However, when Sudha finally gets pregnant it is with a girl child and her mother-in-law decides to ask her to get an abortion and try for a boy. Sudha refuses and runs away back to her mother's home. Anju accidentally gets pregnant and unfortunately loses it while working a secret job in an attempt to raise enough money for Sudha to move to America with her. In the end, Sudha goes to live in America and brings her daughter along. Her presence ends up healing Anju and the book ends positively.

I was so interested in the girls' relationship and loved how close they were. However, things got in the way of their love for each other, but luckily they were able to recover it. The mystery that was the backdrop for the story was also very engaging. I kept waiting to hear what would happen next and enjoyed how the writer dropped tidbits throughout the book. Overall, I would highly recommend this if you're interested in India, female friendship, and culture.(less)

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Oct 10, 2011 Sharon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, book-club

This is the story of two cousins growing up together and being raised by three aunts. One of the cousins is of an upper-caste Calcutta family, while the other cousin is of lesser means. The story starts while they are about 11 years old and continues past their arranged marriages. Anju and Sudja are very different from one another, yet change reversing their character roles in adulthood. They have a strong bond that never lessens, even as they are separated from one another in America while one...more

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Feb 11, 2012 Cheyenne Blue rated it 4 of 5 stars

This has been sitting on my reading pile for months, probably over a year. Two Indian cousins, Anju and Sudha, their bond, their lives, their secrets, particularly when after arranged marriages one goes to the States, the other stays in India.

I love Divakaruni's prose and this is no exception. I love her descriptions of Indian life and the complex family roles, bonds, and responsibilities. In the last part of the book there's a pregnancy, and I was happy to see that the baby wasn't presented as...more

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Apr 01, 2012 Ellyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

I really enjoyed this book, which follows Anju and Sudha, cousins growing up in Calcutta with their mothers and aunt. Born on the same day, the day that their fathers died under mysterious circumstances, they have a bond closer than sisters. Following arranged marriages, Anju moves to San Francisco while Sudha stays in India. Little by little, the secrets that make up their past are revealed. The book had just enough of a fairy tale aspect to it to make it appealing but not too far-fetched. I wa...more

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Mar 21, 2011 Susan Hatch rated it 2 of 5 stars

this is the book we read for march's bookclub...which doesn't meet for 2 more days. I'd have to report back on what the others thought. But for me...I did not care for this book.

Perhaps it's the Indian culture or the way of life. Perhaps it's the odd loyalties. Maybe I like the happily-ever-after endings that d not exist herein. I suppose there are enough real sorrows in life that I prefer not read other ones. I don't know why a young wife would bring into her home a 'sister', when she knows he...more

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Mar 11, 2012 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is a wonderful storyteller. She has a beautiful way with words, as I discovered in One Amazing Thing. So I went to look at other books she has written and was not disappointed in Sister of My Heart. This follows the lives of Sudha and Anju, cousins born on the same day and raised in the same Calcutta household. Needless to say, they are as close as real sisters; actually, closer than many sisters. As life events take them on different paths and away from their childhoo...more

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Mar 30, 2013 giselayvonne rated it 3 of 5 stars

When I travel, I like to bring easy reads along with me. This book did not disappoint. It was enjoyable, pretty, and even had a moment when I gasped in surprise at a twist. It was frustrating at times, watching the never-ending struggle between one of the 'sisters' and the man she loves (who hasn't been frustrated by such in their own life?), but it was nonetheless a lovely read and ended on a high note - open possiblity.

There is one thing which frustrates me more and more as I get older - the u...more

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About Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is an award-winning author and poet. Her work is widely known, as she has been published in over 50 magazines, including the Atlantic Monthly and The New Yorker, and her writing has been included in over 50 anthologies. Her works have been translated into 20 languages, including Dutch, Hebrew and Japanese.Her newest novel is Oleander Girl (Simon and Schuster, 2013) http:...more Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is an award-winning author and poet. Her work is widely known, as she has been published in over 50 magazines, including the Atlantic Monthly and The New Yorker, and her writing has been included in over 50 anthologies. Her works have been translated into 20 languages, including Dutch, Hebrew and Japanese.Her newest novel is Oleander Girl (Simon and Schuster, 2013) http://www.chitradivakaruni.com/books....

She was born in India and lived there until 1976, at which point she left Calcutta and came to the United States. She continued her education in the field of English by receiving a Master’s degree from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

To earn money for her education, she held many odd jobs, including babysitting, selling merchandise in an Indian boutique, slicing bread in a bakery, and washing instruments in a science lab. At Berkeley, she lived in the International House and worked in the dining hall. She briefly lived in Illinois, Ohio and Texas, but has spent most of her life in Northern California, which she often writes about.

Chitra currently teaches in the nationally ranked Creative Writing program at the Univ. of Houston. She serves on the Advisory board of Maitri in the San Francisco Bay Area and Daya in Houston. Both these are organizations that help South Asian or South Asian American women who find themselves in abusive or domestic violence situations. She is also closely involved with Pratham, an organization that helps educate children (especially those living in urban slums) in India.

Chitra has judged several prestigious awards, such as the National Book Award and the PEN Faulkner Award.

Two of her books, The Mistress of Spices and Sister of My Heart, have been made into movies by filmmakers Gurinder Chadha and Paul Berges (an English film) and Suhasini Mani Ratnam (a Tamil TV serial) respectively.

Chitra lives in Houston with her husband Murthy, her two sons Anand and Abhay (whose names she has used in her children’s novels) and Juno, the family dog.

Chitra loves to connect with readers on her Facebook author page, www.facebook.com/chitradivakaruni
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Trivia About Sister of My Heart

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Quotes from Sister of My Heart

“I am buoyant and expansive and uncontainable--but I always was so, only I never knew it!” — 29 people liked it

“That's how it is sometimes when we plunge into the depths of our lives. No one can accompany us, not even those who would give up their hearts for our happiness.” — 27 people liked it

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