Sister India
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
The exotic and suspenseful New York Times Notable Book that tells the story of an eccentric guest-house keeper in Varanasi, India, and the passions evoked by her sacred city along the Ganges
The Lonely Planet recommends the Saraswati Guest House, and meeting Madame Natraja, "a one-woman blend of East and West," as well worth a side trip. Over the course of a weekend, several guests turn up, shocked to encounter a three-hundred-some-pound, surly white woman in a sari. Then a series of Hindu-Muslim murders leads to a citywide curfew, and they unwittingly become her captives. So begins a period of days blending into nights as Natraja and her Indian cook become entangled in a web of religious violence, and their guests fall under the spell of this ancient kingdom--at once enthralled and repelled by the begging children, the public funeral pyres, the holy men bathing in the Ganges at dawn.
This is a traveler's tale, a story about the strange chemistry that develops from unexpected intimacies on foreign ground. And Peggy Payne's extraordinary talent vividly conjures up the smells of the perfume market, the rhythms of holy men chanting at dawn, the claustrophobic feel of this ancient city's tiny lanes, and the magic of the setting sun over the holy Ganges. For anyone who has harbored a secret desire to go to India and be transformed, Sister India, called "mesmerizing" by Gail Harris and "a modern version of E. M. Forster's classic A Passage to India" by Dan Wakefield, takes you on this journey without ever leaving home.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
When writers set their novels in exotic places, there is always the risk that the background will outshine the characters and plot. Such is the case with travel writer Payne's debut. At first, the novel's setting--the violence-ridden holy city of Varanasi, India--seems well matched by its formidable protagonist--400-pound, middle-aged hostess of the Saraswati Guest House, Natraja, formerly Estelle Wilson of Neavis, N.C. One by one, her guests arrive--shy businesswoman Jill Thornton; environmentalist T.J. Clayton, who's having marital problems back home; and adventurous, elderly widow Marie Jasper, who has come in search of healing and enlightenment--and Natraja goes out of her way to intimidate all of them. Her behavior is so contrary to what one would expect of an innkeeper that one is curious about the tragic past that has made her so bitter. Natraja lets her guard down only with Ramesh, the guest house's elderly cook and her sole friend. When her long-time astrologer predicts that a guest will disrupt the peace of the inn, Natraja has yet another reason to be sour. Tensions rise as outbreaks of violence lead to the imposition of a curfew upon Varanasi. Flashbacks of the ill-fated, adolescent love affair in North Carolina, which was the source of Natraja's unhappiness, intersperse with scenes of the city of Varanasi, which steals and retains the spotlight. Sensuous descriptions of its people, urban wildlife and landmarks--especially its legendary holy river, the Ganges--testify to the author's love for this sacred locale. Her sensitive depiction of the friction between the Hindu and Muslim populations, as experienced by both residents and outsiders, lends the age-old battle an urgency that far outshines the somewhat tedious subplots involving Natraja's lackluster guests. Travelers interested in absorbing India's cultural background and atmospheric ambience will enjoy this novel.
