The Vine of Desire

This book treats Anju terribly. She had no passages of her own. Sudha is a selfish unkind person who everyone in the novel caters to. She treats her cousin awful and the author is so in love with her she just constantly speaks of her beauty. This should never have been written, it ruins the friendship and connection. It is dated unlike the first book. If you don't want to hate the characters, do not read it. It is nothing like the first book, it's in third person, no Anju except from anyone else's stories. I adored the first book, it's written beautifully and writes with each character equally, but the writer hates Anju, the only tolerable character.

I read this book immediately after the first one--"Sister of my heart". As a complete story, she has provided a very compelling glimpse into the hearts of two women who are closer than sisters, closer than friends. Also, we get to glimpse another culture, and when the setting shifts to the USA, we get to see the American culture through immigrant eyes. I love this author and these books, and cannot recommend them highly enough.

I loved this book. I also thoroughly enjoyed the first part to this story. It continues the story of Anju and Sudha who are now reunited in America. Anju has suffered a miscarriage and her relationship with her husband, Sunil, is fragile at best. When Sudha arrives in the U.S. and lives with Anju and Sunil, old wounds are reopened and new passions flare. How all three characters grow and learn makes this story worthwhile. The writing is beautiful, almost lyrical. A must read.

After reading the first book, Sister of My Heart, one cannot comprehend how another book can be just as eloquent or beautifully written as that book was. Your heart goes into the lives of Sudha and Anjou. And this book defies all expectations and draws you into their lives even further ~~ this time you really watch them grow up into independent women. This time you suffer along with them the confusion of adultery, losing a much-loved baby, losing all the Indian identities that bind them into what they perceive as rigid roles in society, finding themselves stronger for it. And woven into the tapestry of their lives, are stories and myths from India ~~ a heritage that they can never completely escape from. You watch them make decisions that affect their lives, relationships with one another and other people, and watch them grow into truly deeply beautiful women. Divakaruni writes with such beauty and prose and passion ~~ you cannot help but be carried along by the beauty of her stories and words. It is a book to be treasured and re-read again and again. It's such a lyrical book ~~ but yet it holds profound thoughts of relationships between two women who have grown up together and watch how the twists and turns of life try to tear them apart. And the two cousins come to the realization that neither can live her life for the other ~~ they have their own lives to live. It is a heartwrenching story propelled by Anjou's husband's desire for Sudha ~~ but yet, those two women become stronger. They become women in every sense of the word. I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoy reading books about other women and their relationships among themselves. It's also a poetic book as well ~~ a book to savor each word as it is written and hold closely to your heart. It is an eloquent book to keep and re-read again and again. It speaks of the desires and dreams we all keep close to our hearts ~~ and how sometimes life disappoints us ~~ but we keep on striving to find that deep joy we once knew as children. It is not a book to be forgotten.5-02-02

Anju and Sudha are reunited again when Sudha travels to America to help her sister Anju overcome the loss of her baby. Sudha also plans to make a new life for herself and baby daughter Dayita. But the attraction that had flared just before their double wedding in Calcutta between Sudha and Anju's husband Sunil was still kindling just beneath the surface. It is this slow burning desire between in-laws that sends this household into flames.The Vine Of Desire stands alone as an extraordinary book. Although those of us who have read Sister Of My Heart may have been looking for the same poignant writing that made us fall in love with Sudha, Anju, the Chatterjee family and India could be a tad disappointed. The writing in The Vine Of Desire, while still talented and graceful, wasn't able to give us the descriptive prose as Divakaruni did when she took us through the sites, smells, and customs of India. Should she have kept the setting in India with this book, I think not, the fact of the matter is how do you truly follow after a book like Sister Of My Heart?Divakaruni has displayed that she is a masterful writer and I look forward to reading many more of her books.

Divakaruni does it again. The sequel to SISTER OF MY HEART, which in my honest opinion was off the chart in stars, stands on it's own as a beautiful, rhythmic tale of the two cousins who are now in America. Written in a more flowery hand, intermingled with tales of goddesses and Indian folklore, I was lost in her similes and metaphors. Suhda and Anju are about to find that hearts can be broken and the ties that bind broken but love endures. Sudha has come to America from Calcutta to make a new life for herself and her baby daughter Dayita. She finds herself in a cramped apartment with her cousin and Anju's husband Sunil who has always loved her from afar. The story though a bit sparse and predictable was tantalizing just the same. The author has a knack for making the cultural expectations clear while letting us feel the disappointments and joys that each character is faced with in this new and changing environment.Interspersed among the chapters are letters and essays along with a very original way of showing conversation with the unsaid thoughts behind the words that give us insight into the feelings and needs that make the characters what they are. Divakaruni is an original talent to be reckoned with. Kelsana 2/9/02