Queen of Dreams

For some reason I discovered this book sitting in my bookshelf and have no idea when I purchased it and why. I read a book a week and was searching for something to read when I discovered this one. I had never heard or read anything by this author. My huge loss, for this is by far the best book I have read this year. Perhaps the best I have read in the past year as well. While searching for some knowledge as to why her mother dies in an accident and trying to discover who she really was, Rakhi unwinds a tale that is so marvelous you cannot put this book down. Magic, mystery and wonder fill every page. Written at times like poetry, you are aware of this authors unbelievable talent with every page you read. I will now read every other book she has written. Where are these great writers hidden ? Why are they known to someone like me who is an avid reader? We are forced into trusting the best sellers list and to read novels by mediocre writers to satisfy the demands of publisher who control the market as well as our minds. This book is a gem and will make you hunger for more of this author. Chitra Banergee Divakaruni........a toast to you and your talent. Please keep writing.

I have now read 4 of Ms. Divakaruni's books, and hope she writes another novel soon. She has a tremendous gift to make her images come to life in your head as you are reading. I also felt again that I was being given a privileged tour of a culture different than my own, and could see my own culture through different eyes. So in addition to being entertained, I was being educated. Along with a great story comes a little magic--in that way her work reminds me of Alice Hoffman--the magic seems like a completely natural and believeable part of the world. Read this book, and then read the rest of her work!

When I open the first pages of a novel by Chitra Divakaruni, I know I'm in good hands. There will be a fascinating, exciting story, interesting and compelling characters, and every event will be told in rich, poetic prose. Queen of Dreams is no exception. I read it very quickly because the story kept pulling me forward; one climax after another made for a very exciting read. I reread it more slowly, then, to enjoy details I might have missed. I was never disappointed. I recommend this book highly to anyone who is interested in relationships between family members and between friends. The events of 9/11/01 are also an important part of this story, with ramifications that are powerful and ring with truth. Don't let the inclusion of Dream Journals throw you off. This thread running through the novel is more real than anything else in it; it's vivid and moving and an important part of the journey. It is not my idea of "magic realism." It is my idea of great story telling that makes me want to keep the pages turning in order to find out what happens next. When it's over, I have a lot to think about. I will certainly recommend it to my book group. I envy those of you who have not yet read Queen of Dreams. You have a treat in store for you. I hope Divakaruni will gift us with another novel soon.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's latest novel QUEEN OF DREAMS is another tale of East meets West. She writes what she knows best, about the world of the Indian immigrant living in America. In this novel, as in THE VINES OF DESIRE, Divakaruni takes the reader to northern California. Rakhi, a divorced mother of one, is trying to deal with life as a single mother and understand her own mother, who is able to interpret dreams. Divakaruni blends both the metaphysical with the tangible physical world. Mrs. Gupta, Rakhi's mother, had kept a journal throughout her life. The chapters of QUEEN OF DREAMS are interspersed with these journal entries that describe her dreams and her everyday waking thoughts. One gets a glimpse of her life, from her days in India where she learned to be a dream interpreter to the day she met her husband, Rakhi's father. Mrs. Gupta continues her journal after she settles in America with her new husband and child, revealing a different perspective from what Rakhi sees as reality. The dreams themselves take on a poetic feel, filled with symbolism and folklore that reveal to the reader an image of India; not the physical aspects, but the cultural beliefs, the myths, and the legends. It's a contrast between Western Civilization and the Old World of the East. The story opens with Mrs. Gupta's dream of a snake, the foreseer of change. She tries to guess what the snake is telling her, whether he is foretelling a birth or a death. She senses a bad omen and finally understands that it is her own death the snake is warning her about. The snake reassures her that, although death means an end to life, it can also mean a new beginning. It is snippets of dreams like this that help shape the mood of the book and prepares the reader for what is yet to come. Unlike her mother, Rakhi is totally rooted in the physical world of Northern California. She knows very little about her parents' lives in India and wishes she knew more. She makes her living by running a coffeehouse called The Chai House with her best friend Belle, but Rakhi's real goal is to become an artist. She paints when she can, and her latest obsession is a painting that involves a man dressed in white. She doesn't know who he is, but he hovers just beyond her reach. She searches in vain for this man that she instinctively feels may have the key to some of the unknowns in her life. One of the main themes is that of the relationship between mother and daughter, and it is done very well through the characters of Rakhi and her mother, as well as through Rhaki's six-year-old daughter Jona. Rakhi feels close to her mother, but there is a wall that prevents them from ever becoming truly close. Her mother refuses to discuss the dreams or her life in India, and Rakhi is bitter, unhappy that she does not understand this part of her mother's life, a life that is so guarded that it causes a rift in their relationship. Her divorce is another sore point between them. Her parents still love Sonny,

The life of a divorcee, single mother & aspiring Berkeley artist is always frantic. For Rakhi it is even more so after her mother is killed in an auto accident. Rakhi had been only vaguely aware of her mother's gift for interpreting dreams. Now she is gone & Rakhi yearns to understand her better, to know about her parents' Indian past. With her father's help, Rakhi sets out to decipher her mother's dream journals, only to find a mystery from the past that reaches out to the present. Meanwhile, she battles with her ex, her livelihood from the tea shop she founded with her friend is threatened, & when the after-effects of 9/11 ripple out to the West Coast, everything Rakhi assumed about her innate American citizenship, is put in doubt. Could not put it down! Rebeccasreads highly recommends QUEEN OF DREAMS for an entrancingly different, yet familiar world view.