A sweeping, suspenseful coming-of-age tale from Chitra Banerjee
Divakaruni, the beloved bestselling author hailed by Abraham Verghese as
a "gifted storyteller" and by People magazine as a "skilled
cartographer of the heart."
Beloved bestselling author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni has been hailed by
Abraham Verghese as a "gifted storyteller" and by People magazine as a
"skilled cartographer of the heart." Now, Divakaruni returns with her
most gripping novel yet, a sweeping, suspenseful coming-of-age tale
about a young woman who leaves India for America on a search that will
transform her life.
THOUGH SHE WAS ORPHANED AT BIRTH, the wild and headstrong Korobi Roy has
enjoyed a privileged childhood with her adoring grandparents, spending
her first seventeen years sheltered in a beautiful, crumbling old
mansion in Kolkata. But despite all that her grandparents have done for
her, she is troubled by the silence that surrounds the circumstances of
her parents' death and clings fiercely to her only inheritance from
them: the love note she found, years ago, hidden in a book of poetry
that had belonged to her mother. As she grows, Korobi dreams of one day
finding a love as powerful as her parents', and it seems her wish has
finally come true when she meets the charming Rajat, the only son of a
high-profile business family.
Shortly after their engagement, however, a sudden heart attack kills
Korobi's grandfather, revealing serious financial problems and a
devastating secret about Korobi's past. Shattered by this discovery and
by her grandparents' betrayal, Korobi decides to undertake a courageous
search across post-9/11 America to find her true identity. Her dramatic,
often startling journey will ultimately thrust her into the most
difficult decision of her life.
With flawless narrative instinct and a boundless sympathy for her
irrepressible characters, in Oleander Girl Divakaruni brings us a
perfect treat of a novel-- moving, wise, and unforgettable. As The Wall
Street Journal raves, "Divakaruni emphasizes the cathartic force of
storytelling with sumptuous prose. . . . She defies categorization."
