Maple and Spice

by Moushmi Biswas

Monisha Bastikar is twenty-seven years old and has just finished medical school in Vermont. She has three shining to become a wife, a mother and a board-certified Physician. But time is running out, the men in her community are taken and residency at the prestigious St Anthony’s is just around the corner.

Monisha’s over-ambitious mother Leela tells her all is not lost, for in India there
are millions of men. Monisha opts for an arranged marriage, leaving her best friend Tina completely bewildered. Mrs Bastikar and her feisty younger sister Aunt Romila trawl through the Mumbai Matrimonials and shortlist Shailesh Kulkarni, a dashing surgeon, with glittering career prospects. On paper he appears to be the perfect match and Monisha can’t believe her luck.

But all is not what it seems and Monisha is faced with some difficult choices. Should she break with cultural traditions and find love the American way, or should she compromise and keep her family happy?

The search for love takes Monisha on an eventful journey tinged with heartbreak and loss, from Vermont to Mumbai and back again. Eventually she abandons all hope and throws herself into her career. But will she sit back and wait for a prince to rescue her or will she find the courage to rescue herself?

Maple and Spice is a light-hearted, tragi-comic romp through love and relationships in the twenty-first, century. It also explores the themes of cultural identity, female empowerment and self- fulfilment.

289 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 10, 2018

Reviews

[Sheila Khan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sent this book by the author Moushmi, who is a friend of my daughter in law. It is not my usual genre of book as I am more of a crime reader and this I would class as a romantic comedy.

The main character, Monisha, is Indian and a career woman. Her parents, like most Indian parents, expect her to marry and have children. Monisha, although she would like the same, lives in the US and has different ideas than her parents about how to achieve this. This book tells the story of her journey to find a partner and the many problems she meets on the journey to becoming a mother.

I really enjoyed reading it and found it difficult to put down at times. It is well written and easy to read. I liked the characters and their interaction with each other. I recommend it and congratulate Moushmi on an excellent first novel.

[Read In Colour · Rating 2 out of 5]

While Maple and Spice started well, it slowly meandered downhill. The main character had all the qualities I love in a good lead (i.e., promising career, entertaining secondary characters in the form of her family, interesting relationship prospects), but they were squandered.

I found her choices in men to be inconsistent and lacking. Her first relationship was the most drawn out and detailed, but the second reeked of a desperate high school girl instead of a mid-30s Ph.D. candidate. And her third relationship made absolutely no sense.

Maple and Spice started off with so much promise and I hate that it wasn't able to live up to it.

[Rabirashmi Ghosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Maple and Spice' by Moushmi Biswas is a captivating saga of the confusion and dilemma faced by the so called 'second generation immigrants', in cultures across the world. They sometimes sincerely try to balance the demands of their ancestral culture with those of the land where they live and in the process go through a great deal of struggle and mental turmoil.

This novel is a truly engaging saga of that constant struggle, presented from the perspective of the protagonist, a 'second generation immigrant' girl of Indian origin.

I invite all my book loving friends to embark on a wonderful journey by starting to explore this novel.

[Ranjana · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book from start to finish. The themes of cross-cultural relationships, arranged marriages and self discovery are presented through a very eventful plot. You will love Monisha who is the main character as she navigates through the frequently perilous dating and marriage path. Go to your favourite patisserie, order a delicious pastry and light frothy cappuccino and let yourself be immersed in this lighthearted, entertaining and captivating book. A great Sunday or beach holiday read!

[Amy Potter · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining holiday read. The style was light and engaging with characters well-drawn. Monisha is a woman of the twenty-first century, balancing career and love while coping with the cultural divide.

[Amanda Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great holiday read

I really got into this book and wanted to keep on reading to the end. Thoroughly recommend. A great first novel

[Avril lidstone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Great read, well rounded characters that you really rooted for. Can not wait for next book.
Want to know what happens next.

[A]

It was painful but it served to be a distraction. Otherwise, don't waste your time.