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crankylibrarian
Apr 22, 2011crankylibrarian rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Is there any immigrant American subculture that has NOT produced a novel about the tension between contemporary daughters and their more traditional, 1st generation mothers? Maybe the Estonians have escaped, but Jews, Italians, Hispanics and the Chinese have all had their Joy Luck Club moment. Hindi-Bindi club follows a similar trajectory to Amy Tan's trendsetter: alternating chapters told by 3 thirty-something, assimilated daughters and their immigrant mothers. Intermarriage and illness run throughout all the stories: "rebellious" daughter" Kiran is returning home after a failed marriage to a white musician estranges her from her father and her breast cancer stricken mother. Yet all 3 families have dealt with cross-cultural romance and physical imperfection in one generation or the other, sometimes accepted, sometime leading to great bitterness. By the end, all 3 families will have confronted family secrets and tragedies that reflect the complicated biases and beliefs of contemporary India.