Before We Visit the Goddess: A Novel Paperback – April 25, 2017

Well first of all,thank you to Ann Bogel, who recommended it in her podcast, " What should I read next? "If you have ever experienced estrangement from a daughter or mother this will be touch your heart. It is ultimately a book filled with forgiveness and hope. It also provides American readers a window into the culture and politics of post colonial India, as well as the Indian immigrant experience. The foods and desserts described make me more curious about them as did references to the legends and goddesses mentioned. Mostly, it seems to be a book about feminism, and you will have to read it to find out why! Find an edition with an interview with the author.

FICTIONChitra Banerjee DivakaruniBefore We Visit the GoddessSimon & SchusterHardcover, 978-1-4767-9200-2 (also available as an ebook, audiobook, and on Audible), 224 pgs., $25.00April 19, 2016“What is more painful, the misplaced past or the runaway future?”It’s 1995 and Sabitri, in questionable health, has retired to her ancestral village in India. Receiving a desperate late-night phone call from her estranged daughter, Bela, in Houston, Texas, Sabitri begins a letter to her granddaughter, Tara, who has decided to drop out of college—but Sabitri dies before the letter is mailed. Fast forward to 1998: Tara has dropped out of college and is working in a thrift store in Houston, aimless and disconnected from her Indian heritage and a community that might offer her support, estranged from her mother and father, never knowing her grandmother.Before We Visit the Goddess, the seventeenth book by American Book Award winner Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, is about dislocation: from family, country, and history; and the inevitable conflict resulting from each successive generation’s refusal, or inability, to learn from the mistakes of the previous generation. These women have more in common than they know.The plot is simple and would almost be a comedy of errors if the results weren’t so frequently tragic. The narrative, told by multiple characters and varying points of view—sometimes third person, other times first—is challenging as the flow is constantly interrupted by time and space, jumping around between the past, beginning in 1963, and ending up in the future, 2020; and between India, California, and Texas. On the other hand, this technique neatly mirrors the feelings of dislocation experienced by the diverse, well-developed characters. All of the principals are complex human beings in their successes and failures, provided with rich backstories and motivations.Divakaruni’s Houston is a joy in all of its multiples: racial, ethnic, cultural. She pokes a little fun at the “suburban funhouse” of street names in the surrounding bedroom communities: “Austin Colony, Austin Glen, Austin Crossing.”Divakaruni is adept at the just-right simile: the child Bela wakes from a fever in the hospital where “her mother’s face looms large over the bed, alarming as an out-of-orbit moon”; and when a young man who has recently suffered a heartbreak is asked out by a new man his “chest felt like it was too small to contain all the things knocking around inside it. Heart, lungs, excitement, a surge of blood like sorrow. The backwash of memories.”With its embossed dust jacket, Before We Visit the Goddess is a physically beautiful book in which Divakaruni writes passionately, although sometimes sentimentally, about loss, regret, and the importance of communication and forgiveness. Though the ending is rather abrupt, it is satisfying and hopeful. We fail each other, not necessarily from selfishness, but from obliviousness and with the best of intentions.Originally published by Lone Star Literary Life.

First off, I did enjoy this book. I am a fan of the author and look forward to reading more from her. Sometimes I wonder, however, why an author chooses to narrate in a fractured way - skipping back and forth in time - rather than just telling the story chronologically. In this case I think a more straight forward presentation of the characters and generations would have been more effective. Recognizing that the three generations of women were the central theme, I also would have liked more resolution to some of the plotlines concerning the less central characters. That said, Before We Visit The Goddess is a thought provoking book with emotional resonance - well worth reading.

I usually take a long time to get through dramas. For this book, I'd bear as much as I could while trying to satisfy this urge to become immersed in the culture and cooking. My main focus is on the sweets shop and food monikers that were used. Just came from 'Chocolat' series, and this definately has a different song. In the end of the book, Chitra says she wanted to hinge the chapters on emotional currents rather than paved timeline, and it worked! It kept the flow interesting and not-too-hard to follow. The ending is realistic and a great point to end. (I just need like 4 more generations and clarification on certain events please)Anyways, good read. Nothing gory or risky. Pretty realistic portal of life.

Goddess is a moving and sweeping tale of an immigrant family that spans generations from India to America and back again. One of those late-night reads that conjure memories and reflections of one's own life and ancestors. Not embarrassed to admit that my pillow sheets got moist from a few tears. Well-wrought characters and scenes, although the multi-layered narratives and voices can be hard to follow at times. But don't let that discourage you from reading this beautifully-written book. Worth the time and money.

I have been a follower of Ms. Divakaruni's from her first book. She always develops her story through the eyes, thoughts, and actions of her primary characters; blending the American and Indian cultures seamlessly (at least for me). Each book is to be tarried over and relished. As I re-read her books, I see how some characters appear and re-appear from book-to-book. Others disappear in one book only to re-appear several seemingly unrelated books late. There are apparitions, mystics, beliefs, superstitions, and pragmatism. Her books are a treat and a challenge. They need to be savored to be appreciated. She has a rare gift and we are fortunate when she shares it with us. This tale of inter-generational love and conflict played out geographically between California and India will keep you captivated from beginning to end.