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Under the Lemon Trees
by
Bhira Backhaus (Goodreads Author)
A beautifully written debut novel of a young Indian woman struggling between embracing her heritage and fitting in as an American
In Oak Grove, California, 1976, there are as many Sikh temples as Christian churches, the city council has prints announcements in both English and Punjabi and the large Indian immigrant community is gracefully coexists with the old farming fam...more
In Oak Grove, California, 1976, there are as many Sikh temples as Christian churches, the city council has prints announcements in both English and Punjabi and the large Indian immigrant community is gracefully coexists with the old farming fam...more
ebook, 336 pages
Published
March 17th 2009
by Thomas Dunne Books
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Under the Lemon Trees, set in the small Northern California town of Oak Grove in the Sikh immigrant community, moves between 1976 and 1947 to tell the story of love and finding one’s way in a world that seems at times both too big and too limited. The novel focuses primarily on Jeeto, a teenage girl trying to find the balance between her parents’ traditional vision of what her life should be and the ill-conceived dreams that tug at her. Hers is a classic coming-of-age tale set within the Indian...more
I wanted to like this book. Not only because the author is related to a few people I know, but also because it's based on the Sikh diaspora into Northern California, and clearly appears to be based on Yuba City (or Live Oak or surrounding areas).
I didn't like the book. I didn't really hate it either.
Pros: a poignant demonstration of the well justified angst that the female gender too often experiences, interesting characters.
Cons: a boring and predictable plot with few surprises and little tensi...more
I didn't like the book. I didn't really hate it either.
Pros: a poignant demonstration of the well justified angst that the female gender too often experiences, interesting characters.
Cons: a boring and predictable plot with few surprises and little tensi...more
The theme of Under the Lemon Trees addresses the conflicting demands imposed by strong Eastern cultural traditions on a family now living in a Western culture. Based in Oak Grove, California, the storyline is largely based on the lives of Jeeto and Neelham Rai, young teenage Indian girls during the 1970’s who are faced with compromising their own desires for love when their mother insists on arranged marriages to young Indian men they have never met. The expectation of following tradition and it...more
i read through nearly 75% of this before I realized the book was not autobiographical and somehow felt dissappointed to discover that fact. it introduced me to the culture of the sikh indian population who immigrated to oak groove (which I presume is factual) as well as the common-day pressures on an adolescent indian-american gal in the late 1970's, torn between two contrasting cultures. But I wasn't overwelmed with the book and felt as I reading it that i simply wanted to be done with it. I al...more
There were a lot of different characters to keep up with in this coming of age story primarily about Jeeto, a young Sikh-American who wants to escape her small Central Valley, California community to attend college instead of being married off by her parents to a "suitable" Indian man. The parts of the story I enjoyed most were when the focus was on Jeeto's story. The transitions between the current story (hers) and the story of her uncle, Avtar as a young immigrant thirty years earlier. I'm sti...more
Jul 26, 2010
Sarah Sammis
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
borrowed,
read-in-2010
As a native Californian, I love reading books that let me experience my home state in new ways. Under the Lemon Trees by Bhira Backhaus draws inspiration from her experience as Indian American child growing up in California's central valley.
The novel is set in fictional Oak Grove which is within driving range of both Berkeley and Sacramento. It's described as having as many Sikh temples as Christian churches. It's an agriculturally dependant town.
The main character, Jeeto, is on the verge of goi...more
The novel is set in fictional Oak Grove which is within driving range of both Berkeley and Sacramento. It's described as having as many Sikh temples as Christian churches. It's an agriculturally dependant town.
The main character, Jeeto, is on the verge of goi...more
I enjoyed reading this fictional account of Sikh Indian immigrants adjusting to life in agricultural California from the post WWII to the 70s. Most of the Indian immigrant experiences stories center on white collar workers that immigrated during the "Brain Drain", so I was pleasantly surprised to read about migrations earlier in the century and stories about laborers and farmers.
While the writing is good, the struggles are the same: assimilation into a different society, maintaining one's own cu...more
While the writing is good, the struggles are the same: assimilation into a different society, maintaining one's own cu...more
I think one reason I enjoyed this story was because it exposed me to a different cultural group- Indian (from India) Sikh families living in California. In some ways they are portrayed as similar to other newly immigrated groups, in others ways different. Characters seem well developed. Story line is a bit choppy in a few places, so it isn’t a light read, but the plot isn’t so heavy that it is depressing.
The book was interesting. I started reading it purely because I like the graphic design on the cover. I enjoyed learning more about the Sikh culture, which I knew very little about before reading the book.
The end fell kind of flat for me. She had what she wanted and then just kind of let it go. I guess it is supposed to be semi-autobiographical, but it just didn't measure up to the rest of the book.
The end fell kind of flat for me. She had what she wanted and then just kind of let it go. I guess it is supposed to be semi-autobiographical, but it just didn't measure up to the rest of the book.
Radnja ide presporo. Tek oko 160. stranice postoje naznake zapleta. Ima mnogo retrospekcija i prati se više životnih priča. Na kraju ne znamo što će se dalje dogoditi s likovima i to mi se ne sviđa. Nedostaje mi u djelu dobar završetak.
I had to read this since it was written by my dad's cousin. It talks about how life was growing up Indian in the Yuba City area back in the 1970's. Not a bad read. Fun to see family names in it, as made up characters of course.
This fictional book deals with the culture of Indians who come to America to make life for themselves from the 1950's to now. It was interesting to see how the culture of the Indian people clashes with the culture of America.
While it was rather interesting in that it gives a sense of the life of first generation indians in the US, the characters never really sparked much interest in me.
I liked this book. It gave me some insight into a population that is ever increasing here in California. And since the story was set outside of Sacramento, I recognized towns and places that they mention as well (Ryde Hotel, Locke, etc).
A beautiful novel about family, life, love and karma. Beautifully descriptive.
I loved the story and how it depicted the tough choices people who live within mixed cultures have to make.
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Fantastic story but hard to get into at first.
Gave up at page 170, I was bored to pieces.
Outstanding.
Interesting book. I like reading books about different cultures. I think this author could have explained the names of the different cultural things, i.e., the name of the dress. I wasn't quite sure what it looked like until I searched on the Internet.
A great book that gave me a view of an immigrant group I had never explored before (Indian Sikh).
Presented a historical perspective of the Palestinian situation with a human voice from both sides. A bit slow moving, but well worth reading.
wonderful tale about family, love and culture.
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