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Summary and Reviews of Vine of Desire by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Vine of Desire by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Vine of Desire

by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
  • Critics' Consensus (4):
  • Readers' Rating (1):
  • First Published:
  • Jan 1, 2002, 384 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Feb 2003, 384 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Book Summary

A moving and satisfying sequel to Sister of My Heart, The Vine of Desire stands on its own as a novel of extraordinary depth and sensitivity.

In a novel that reunites the beloved characters of Sister of My Heart, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni explores the emotional ties between two lifelong friends–and how they change when the husband of one is dangerously attracted to the other.

The Vine of Desire continues the story of Anju and Sudha, the two young women at the center of Divakaruni's bestselling novel Sister of My Heart. Far from Calcutta, the city of their childhood, and after years of living separate lives, Anju and Sudha rekindle their friendship in America. The deep-seated love they feel for each other provides the support each of them needs. It gives Anju the strength to pick up the pieces of her life after a miscarriage, and Sudha the confidence to make a life for herself and her baby daughter, Dayita–without her husband. The women's bond is shaken to the core when they must confront the deeply passionate feelings that Anju's husband has for Sudha. Meanwhile, the unlikely relationships they form with men and women in the world outside the immigrant Indian community as well as with their families in India profoundly transform them, forcing them to question the central assumptions of their lives.

A moving and satisfying sequel to Sister of My Heart, The Vine of Desire stands on its own as a novel of extraordinary depth and sensitivity.
Through the eyes of people caught in the clash of cultures, Divakaruni reveals the rewards and the perils of breaking free from the past and the complicated, often contradictory emotions that shape the passage to independence

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Reviews

Media Reviews

Booklist - Donna Seaman
Poetic and bewitching, observant and compassionate, Divakaruni has a remarkable gift for intertwining romance with trenchant insights into the harsh realities of women's lives, whether they live in material comfort in Berkeley or in poverty in Calcutta, thus granting readers both visceral pleasure and clarifying aesthetic revelation.

Publishers Weekly
This exquisitely rendered tale of passion, jealousy and redemption continues the extraordinary relationship between Anjou and Sudha, the two exceptional women at the heart of Divakaruni's praised Sister of My Heart.

Library Journal - Robert E. Brown
Evocative and emotionally charged, this could be a good alternative for your Anita Shreve readers.

Kirkus Reviews
Overwrought and sluggishly paced sequel, continuing the tale of two Indian cousins who now find their close relationship threatened by old loves and new sorrows in California.

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Read-Alikes

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