The Gift of a Bride: A Tale of Anthropology, Matrimony and Murder

by Serena Nanda, Joan Gregg

This ethnographically based murder mystery is set within New York City's Indian community. A young Indian woman's arranged marriage brings her to the city to join her husband shortly after her wedding. The plot unfolds as the couple copes with joint family living, sexual and financial issues, and hostile neighbors. Central to the mystery are the cultural conflicts affecting both men and women negotiating the differences between American society and their own traditional upbringings. A major theme of the book is violence against women as this plays out both within domestic situations and through the gender inequalities of Indian and American society. Supportive characters such as an anthropology professor, an Indian detective and his American sidekick, a young, assimilated Indian neighbor, and an established family elder reveal various aspects of immigrant life. Through this rich, exciting and ethnographically detailed foray into one particular community, the reader learns about arranging a marriage, Hindu weddings and festivals, and the rich psychological motivations of culturally-patterned behavior of both immigrant men and women. The main principles of cultural anthropology and ethnographic method are woven into the novel, making it a compelling read in a wide range of undergraduate and graduate courses.

Genres: Anthropology

306 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2009

Reviews

[Thi N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Currently taking an Anthropology Gender, Sex and Marriage course, and I'm currently using this book assigned by my professor as our textbook material. The book is for our op-ed paper and it's a lot more interesting to read than an actual textbook. The book brings to light the Indian culture and beliefs of non-Westerners. It's written in a fictional story, but with realistic true facts. Chapters are written to be an edge-of-the-seat-page turner, but I didn't find it as interesting until nearing the last few chapters!

Definitely Recommend if you like learning about other cultures or a murder mystery (not-so-much).

[Jusmalia Oktaviani · Rating 3 out of 5]

I honestly read this book simply because I am writing my thesis now, and the novel talks about the same thing in my thesis, dowry murder or dowry deaths.

I didn't expect to get new knowledge, because this is still a novel anyway (if I want to get the scientific writings I should not read novel, indeed). But the novel made me realize how hard it is to be daughter-in-law, how terrible the marriage with the dowry demands, and how human can be greedy and so cruel to kill someone else because of the material things.

Reading this novel put me in neutral position. Because this novel is about the cross-cultural life, as a reader I was trying not to judge other's culture. Right or wrong is defined by dominant culture, so to be honest, this novel give me new perspective as the third party.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book in one of my undergraduate Anthropology classes while in college. It's a very interesting story that exposes aspects of s culture that I was previously unaware of. It's an interesting story, but it is also very sad. I highly recommend this book, even if you aren't an anthropology or sociology student.

[Katherine MacKinnon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just started this ethnographic novel set in NY and India. I use Nanda's 'Gender Diversity' text in my 'X-Cultural Perspectives on Human Sexuality' course, and am curious about how she tranfers her academic writing style to the novel form. The fun things you can do when emerita!

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Using it in my intro class this year, we'll see how the students take to using a novel

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

More interesting than a textbook, more informative than a novel. It is a little of each, but fully in neither world. Would be useful in a class about gender issues.

[Maria Di Cosmo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is very boring mostly informative.