PURPLE LOTUS is a lovely, illuminating novel about a young Indian woman’s journey as an immigrant to the United States.
I’ve been reading several books selected by the International Pulpwood Queens & Timber Guys Book Club, now that my novel PAUSE has been selected as a 2022 title. PURPLE LOTUS drew my interest immediately, as I love to read about other cultures and “fish-out-of-water” stories of cultural contrast. In Rao’s debut novel (she is a professional journalist), her character Tara is an unhappy, unmarried woman who is pressured by her very traditional patriarchal family in her native India into accepting an arranged, loveless marriage to a man she meets on her wedding day. He has immigrated to the U.S. and finally sends for her to join him. She endures escalating emotional and then physical abuse, while her remote family continues to urge her to “just accept” the situation and avoid causing scandal to her family with a divorce.
As an insider who has stated that some of the novel’s story draws on her own experiences, Rao can reveal to us both the richness of Indian culture and the downsides for women in these traditions. I loved the descriptions of Tara’s childhood as well as beautiful ceremonies of worship and celebration. It was hard to read through Tara’s long suffering of a loveless, abusive marriage, though she ultimately finds her power and makes a new life for herself.
I must note that I am a “show, don’t tell,” writer and reader, with a preference for fully fleshed-out scenes with dialogue (and of course some necessary summary), and this novel tends toward the “telling” or summarizing end of the spectrum. A lot of narrative summary seems to be popular in new novels, so I may be in the minority.
I related to Tara and her experiences in an abusive marriage in which she felt isolated, as the main character in my own Pulpwood Queens selection, PAUSE, has gone through divorce from an abuser. Tara’s emotional journey rings true, as well as her challenge to learn the ways of a new country, with the help from new friends. I’ve lived in patriarchal Southern Chile, where I was confronted with the fact that as a wife I had fewer legal rights than my husband, and I was happy to see Rao openly discuss such issues in her novel.
I’m looking forward to Rao’s next foray into fiction!
*****
You will find The Rambling Writer’s blog posts here every Saturday. Sara’s latest novel from Book View Café is Pause, a First Place winner of the Chanticleer Somerset Award and an International Pulpwood Queens Book Club selection. “A must-read novel about friendship, love, and killer hot flashes.” (Mindy Klasky). Sign up for her quarterly email newsletter at www.sarastamey.com