Sister India

by Peggy Payne

Book Overview

The exotic and suspenseful New York Times Notable Book that tells the story of an eccentric guest-house keeper in Varanasi, India, and the passions evoked by her sacred city along the Ganges The... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1573221767
• ISBN13: 9781573221764
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Riverhead Books
• Length: 275 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.9" x 8.7"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Feels Like A Fictionalized Travel Guide

Peggy Payne should receive an award for making you feel as if you've been someplace you've never actually been. Her descriptive prose of India's holy city, is so detailed and vibrant you can virtually feel the dirty water and see the colorful saris. The story is of three very different Americans staying in the same guest house run by a 400 pound former American. When violence breaks out between the Hindus and Muslims, it gives the travellers a first hand view of the countrys' unrest, and brings up personal issues that each of them have to contend with.A beautifully written, lyrical novel.

Books like this are why reading is my truest pleasure

I feel like I just returned from a magical vacation to Varanasi. The beautiful swirl of colors of the saris..the delicious smells of exotic foods and spices mixed with the odourous River Ganges...and the burning of human bodies.I could hear the shouts of the Indian vendors..selling everything from perfume to astrological readings...the small children dressed like American children of the fifties. All the while there is a tangible layer of fear in the "greasy air" due to the constant possibility of Muslim/Hindu violence...so timely as I read this story in the last few days when religious conflicts and the threat of random violence has darkened the shores of my own country.Natraja is one of the most fascinating fictional creations I have ever come across...the author manages to give her so much history with such a sparce amount of information it is amazing. The contrast of taking the reader back to Natrajas Southern childhood from hercurrent exotic surroundings is brilliant...the dismal kitchen of her sad childhood in North Carolina is written as right on as the scenes on the Ghats of the Ganges..'the dishrag smell of the plastic tablecloth,the fry pan soaking in the sink'...such a vividly drawn picture. The other characters are also quite well put together....and if you pay very close attention you will catch, like a very fine mist on your face, a very subtle love story...just here and there...very subdued....which is the best kind...be nice to your self....build a fire..light some scented candles...order in a great Indian Dinner and experience "Sister India"

Mesmerizing

Once I went to Hong Kong and sat in a park for hours listening to an imaginative and well-informed expat friend make up stories about the people who passed by. Better than reading a history book or travel guide, his tales tapped me into the heart and soul of the place. Peggy Payne's novel is like that. It takes you behind the hidden doorways, down the dark passages, and into the secret gardens of a place that's mysterious, dangerous and mesmerizing. Better yet, she gives us a glimpse into the private lives and secret passions of that odd elderly woman who sat next to you on the train and the quiet cook who served your eggs at breakfast. Short of booking passage, I can't think of a better way to explore this square mile of India.

sister india

This novel provides an extraordinary journey, geographical and spiritual. In the company of unforgettable American as well as Indian characters, Payne takes us into the vibrant, unsettling, seethingly violent atmosphere of India. I've never literally visited there, but by the end of her book I felt I had. More than that, I took away with me the lives of her extraordinary characters, each searching for answers to their lives. This is a book you won't forget.Open any page and you'll see why.

Enjoyable literary work

For over two decades, American Madame Natraja managed the small guesthouse Saraswati. When she lived in segregated Nevus, North Carolina in the 1950s, people knew the three hundred pound-plus woman as Estelle. A scandal forced Estelle to leave town and she kept moving until she settled in India's holiest of cities, Varanasi.Her adopted home city has racial problems too as violence periodically erupts between the Hindus and Muslims. When someone murders a Muslim near Saraswati, the city leaders impose a strict curfew with no one allowed to leave their homes. The guesthouse visitors see a side of India they never expected to observe and learn how precious life truly is. Madame Natraja never veers from her set course until a friend vanishes.The Lonely Planet tour guidebook lists the main protagonist as a "one woman blend of East and West." That is a very insightful look at Madame Natraja, who understands her western roots even as she embraces aspects of eastern culture. The story line is intriguing and complex, as Peggy Payne has written an intense novel with many layers of interpretation available to the reader.Harriet Klausner