Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni - The Palace of illusions

 CHITRA BANERJEE DIVAKARUNI is a true story teller. Like Dickens, She has constructed layer upon layer of Tragedy, secrets and betrayals , 

of Thwarted Love.... 

As Irresistible as the impulse which leads her characters to surface to maturity, raising their heads above the Floods of Silver ignorance

The Palace of Illusions

 Narrated by Panchaali, the wife of the five pandava brothers,The Palace of illusions finally gives a woman's take on the timeless tale that is the Mahabharat. Tracing Panchaali's lie from fiery birth and lonely childhood,where her beloved brother is her only true companion;through her complicated friendship with the enighmatic KRISHNA; to marriage, motherhood and her secret attraction to the mysterious man who is her husbands most dangerous enemy - it's a deeply human story aout a woman born into a man's world...... 

"Divakaruni gives us a racy and romantic tale, the story of not just Draupadi and the God Krishna, but also of the most tragic hero in the whole wide world – Karna...." 

Queen  of Dreams

In this novel, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni spins a fresh, enchanting story of transformation that is as lyrical as it is dramatic

“This story of an emotionally distant mother and a daughter trying to find herself transcends cultural boundaries. Queen of Dreams combines the elements that Divakaruni is known for, the Indian American experience and magical realism, in a fresh mix. The tale succeeds on two levels. She effectively takes the reader into an immigrant culture but she also shows the common ground that lies in a world that some would find foreign. The search for identity and a sense of emotional completion is not confined to small corners of the world. It is a dilemma that all readers can understand.” 

The Vine of Desire

 The Vine of Desire is a novel of extraordinary depth and sensitivity. Through the eyes of people caught in the clash of cultures, Divakaruni reveals the rewards and the perils of breaking free from the past and the complicated, often contradictory emotions that shape the women's passage to independence.......

“Divakaruni is gifted with dramatic inventiveness, lyrical, sensual language, the ability to interweave many points of view with ease…The Vine of Desire offers many delight"

Sisters of My Heart

“Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s account of family life in Bengal is warm and richly detailed. Hers is one of the most strikingly lyrical voices writing about the lives of Indian women today.” 

What an irresistibly absorbing immersion in the pleasure and anguish of growing up passionate in a world of duty, where each comfort is hedged with a constraint and love unsettles every plan. Sister of My Heart may be alive with exotic detail but its emotions are very recognizable

The Mistress of Spices

The Mistress of Spices is unique in that it is written with a blend of prose and poetry. The book has a very mystical quality to it, and, as Divakaruni puts it, “I wrote in a spirit of play, collapsing the divisions between the realistic world of twentieth century America and the timeless one of myth and magic in my attempt to create a modern fable.”

A splendid novel, beautifully conceived and crafted.

Arranged Marriage

Arranged Marriage, Chitra’s first collection of stories, focuses on women from India caught between two worlds. The characters are “both liberated and trapped by cultural changes,” struggling to carve out an identity of their own.

Divakaruni not only conveys emotions with stunning accuracy, she also transforms the outer world—every room and article of clothing, every instance of snow, rain, and sunshine—into reflections of the soul

 One Amazing Thing

A group of nine are trapped in the visa office at an Indian Consulate after a massive earthquake in an American city. Two visa officers on the verge of an adulterous affair; Jiang, a Chinese–Indian woman in her last years; her gifted teenage granddaughter Lily; an ex-soldier haunted by guilt; Uma, an Indian–American girl bewildered by her parents’ decision to return to Kolkata after twenty years; Tariq, a young Muslim man angry with the new America; and an enraged and bitter elderly white couple. As they wait to be rescued—or to die—they begin to tell each other stories, each recalling ‘one amazing thing’ in their life, sharing things they have never spoken of before. Their tales are tragic and life-affirming, revealing what it means to be human and the incredible power of storytelling.

   For The Young Readers

The Conch Bearer

Mythical, mystical — and impossible to put down, The Conch Bearer is literary fiction of the highest order. Action, adventure and magic combine in this compelling quest fantasy that whisks readers to a far away land and to a reading experience they won’t soon forget. The Conch Bearer is a feast for the senses with a multitude of colors, smells, sounds, and textures. It’s a feast of the emotions as readers feel fear, hope, joy, trepidation, sadness, and wonder — right along with the main characters. And it’s a feast for adventure-lovers – a fast paced story that races across contemporary India to a dramatic climax in the Himalayas.

Young and Old, Male and Female, east and West, Modern and Traditional, All elements blend in this Exquisite Collection....