by Michelle Reale | Feb 25, 2010 | Books, Entertainment
THE CASE OF THE MISSING SERVANT by Tarquin Hall. Simon and Schuster, 2009. Hardcover. 310 pages. $24. Tarquin Hall writes about private detecting in India in the same way that Alexander McCall Smith writes about it in Botswana: with great warmth, humor and a bit of...
by Michelle Reale | Nov 13, 2009 | Books, Entertainment
A Charming Tale, Tenderly Told THE MARRIAGE BUREAU FOR RICH PEOPLE by Farahad Zama. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2009. Hardcover, 293 pages. $24.95. There is something about the way that Farahad Zama imbues his characters with warmth and empathy that makes you want to see...
by Michelle Reale | Apr 19, 2009 | Books, Entertainment
THE MUSIC ROOM by Namita Devidayal. St. Martin’s Press, 2009. Hardcover. 310 pages. $24.95 Kennedy Bridge, described by Namita Devidayal in her poignant memoir as a “neighborhood known for prostitute’s and gentlemen’s clubs,” must have been a shock to the well-bred...
by Michelle Reale | Feb 26, 2009 | Books, Entertainment
THE TOSS OF A LEMON by Padma Viswanathan. Harcourt. Hardcover. 619 pages. $26. Padma Viswanathan was inspired by her own family history, specifically the stories told to her by her grandmother, to write the saga of a Brahmin family. Her novel, The Toss of a Lemon,...
by Michelle Reale | Sep 28, 2008 | Books, Entertainment
A GOOD INDIAN WIFE: A NOVEL by Anne Cherian. W. W. Norton and Company: May 2008. Hardcover. 320 pages. $23.95 Many works of Indian fiction published in the past seven years have been derivative. Of itself, that is. And yet I was still surprised to discover that A Good...