Author: Sejal Badani
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Year published: 2018
ISBN:
Genre: contemporary fiction; cross-cultural and cross-generational fiction set in India and the United States
Pairs well with strong chai,
the laughter of children,
and a side of devoted friendship.
Wow.
That's the first word that comes to mind after finishing The Storyteller's Secret by Sejal Badani. I just loved this book so much. I read it as an e-book via Amazon Prime Reading, but loved it so much that I'd like to buy a paperback copy.
The Storyteller's Secret follows the path of a young woman in the United States, daughter of parents from India, who returns to her mother's childhood home in India after a third miscarriage. She is mired in the unfathomable loss and sadness, and with it the sadness and potential loss of her marriage. She escapes to India where she meets Ravi, the confidant and best friend of her grandmother -- a woman of strength and conviction who was trapped in tradition and had to make many hard choices. The story follows the main character, Jaya, as she learns the hard truths about her mother's childhood, her grandmother's sacrifices, and worlds of hurt. But, Jaya also learns the true value and meaning of friendship, love, sacrifice, and forgiveness throughout her journey.
The novel crosses cultures and generations. Although it starts in the United States, the book eventually is set primarily in India -- both modern day and colonial India under British rule. The reader is transported back and forth between the present and two generations past through dual storytelling. Jaya is telling her story and her experience as she flees a potentially broken marriage and three miscarriages, but she also hears the story of her grandmother, Amisha as told by her grandmother's best friend and servant, Ravi. Amisha's story is told in present tense, but because the author has taken great care with her story, it is quite easy to keep the timelines and stories clear.
Jaya is young but brilliant and an incredible writer. However, her relationship with her mother is strained and she does not really understand why. When she flees her personal tragedies by traveling to India, she learns the tragic truth about her mother's childhood and a secret that led to her mother's own losses and fears.
Ultimately, this is a story of homecoming for Jaya, Ravi, and Jaya's mother.
The Storyteller's Secret is absolutely tied for my favorite book of my 2019 reading with Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. I hope you will read and love both novels!
Find The Storyteller's Secret on Amazon HERE.
Find Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine on Amazon HERE.
I found The Storyteller's Secret by Sejal Badani as a free e-book via Prime Reading, a membership perk of Amazon Prime. If you aren't a Prime member, you can get a free 30 day trial HERE. With Prime Reading (not to be confused with Kindle Unlimited), you may borrow up to 10 free e-books (the selection changes periodically) from the current selection. There are NO due dates as there would be with e-books from your library. Instead, you get to keep them until you return them (but if you have borrowed 10, you can't get another until you return one). As long as you haven't returned a book, you will also keep your access to the book even if it is no longer a Prime Reading offering!
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