The Bride Wore Red

By Robbie C. Sethi

These thirteen linked stories are framed by the experiences of Sally, an American doctor and Deshi, her Indian husband, whose two cousins follow his example and refect their arranged marriages for... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312167954
• ISBN13: 9780312167950
• Release Date: October 1997
• Publisher: Picador
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.7" x 0.6" x 4.5"

Customer Reviews

Not Racist, Honest but with Humor

I was really surprised to see so many comments here use the word "Racist" and "sterotypical". I do not agree with any of those comments and found this book honest with humor spread throughout. I am an anthropologist and have made my life work on North India. In the span of many years working both in India and the USA I have come in contact with many cross-cultural Indian/American marriages, including my own. My own marriage has had its cultural misunderstandings and differences but I have been extremely lucky in many regards. I can not say the same for many of the Indian/American couples I have met along the way. Many of this author's stories echo their own. It is interesting to note that I read Indian authors extensively and have found a far harsher look at Indian culture through their own books yet I do not see anyone claiming they are racist. Is it possible that it is ok to make these statements only if you are Indian, rather than someone who has married into an Indian family? I am not trying to get a fight started here but I do beleive that the criticisms I have read are very unfair to this author. I actually recommend this book for anyone who is Non-Indian marrying into a NORTH Indian family, be it Sikh or Hindu. Thanks for reading!

Insightful

Finally a book that discusses interracial marriages. Rarely do you find a book that discusses modern times in indian american culture. I would like to see more detailed stories. The author kept the stories interesting. For the most part, the stories are true. I look forward to more books on this subject.

Insightful and entertaining

As an Anglo woman engaged to a Punjabi Sikh, I really appreciated Sethi's insight into some of the cultural psychology of a mixed Indian and American family. Her stories do not represent all dimensions of a cross-cultural Punjabi family, as another reader's review suggests. However, I see her characters as charicatures representing a number of the cultural clashes and adaptations that occur. I found this book funny, sad, and insightful. I especially enjoyed the chapter in which two characters with androgynous names switched genders throughout the story.By the way, as far as I know this is the only book out there, fictional or non-fictional which addresses Indian-American mixed marriages.

painfully honest but short on compassion

Robbie Clipper Sethi writes well. Her images are powerful and vivid. Her brutal honesty is refreshing to someone like me (an Indian who grew up in the U.S. and married an American man. I escaped the suffocating presence and expectations of Indian in-laws). However, most of her stories lack compassion for the Indian paradigm of family. I may have avoided the "down-side" of the extended family network but I am also missing out on the love, support and togetherness of an extended Indian family. Also, not all families are so difficult, ethnocentric, egocentric and--basically crazy. This book is a great starting point but clearly there are many more stories to tell.

Culteral Integration -- Myths and Realities Explored

An excellent book of short pieces based on the author's marriage to an Indian man. Her observations of his extended family are excellent, as are the stories exploring the hearts and minds of those people. One especially good piece tells a story with a man and then with a woman as the main character so that we can see the differences and similarities in outcome. If you're at all interested in India or if you've always been curious about India since the 60's, this book is excellent