The Tree Bride: A Novel

by Bharati Mukherjee

Book Overview

National Book Critics Circle Award-winner Bharati Mukherjee has long been known not only for her elegant, evocative prose but also for her characters--influenced by ancient customs and traditions but... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786888660
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Hachette Books
• Length: 302 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

A Memorable Story

This is an enchanting tale of a young Indian woman's search for her roots in old Bangladesh. The search itself is like following the roots of a tree, a fantastical tree that is the husband of her old aunt. Each bit of knowledge takes you deeper into the narrator's past, India's past, the ambivalence of modern Indians whose ancestors had to find identity under the British Raj. How much is fact or fiction in the telling of this history doesn't matter. The story, myth, mystique take us deep into the soul of India, as deep as we can go not having experienced it ourselves. This book is second in a trilogy (first was "Desirable Daughters). I look forward to experiencing the third.

felt like I walked in in the middle

Reading here for the first time that this is part of a trilogy, I see that there may be a reason why I felt a little let down at the end of the Tree Bride (not understanding, still, why the main character's life was threatened by a bomber). It's sort of like reading "The Two Towers" without knowing about the Fellowship of the Ring or the Return of the King. That said, I enjoyed this book immensely (I bought it in an airport and read it instead of Stephen Sears' "The Landscape Turned Red" -- which is not to say anything against the always excellent Stephen Sears). It is true that The Tree Bride has a large ensemble cast and one must be patient to understand the threads connecting the fabric of the story (the theme of which seems to be the conflict between artificial partition and natural connection) but if you are you will be rewarded. I thought the characters were well developed and interesting and I particularly enjoyed the micro review of Indian independence and partition -- so much so that I would like to read more. And now that I know this was part of a trilogy, I am looking forward to reading "Desirable Daughters" and the third book.

Wow! Great Book!

This book is a continuation of the story started by the author in the novel Desirable Daughters (also a great read). It is the fascinating examination by the main character of the history of her great-aunt, Tara-Ma, who died in police custody during the struggle for Indian independence. Tied into the storyline is the main character's own life and the late-life pregancy she is experiencing as she gets back together with her ex-husband. There is an element of suspense as she and her husband try to uncover the location of the man who tried to kill them in the previous book. This book is excellent and I highly recommend it to anyone who can read!

A story within a story within a story...

This book is easily one of the best fiction books I have read. Ms. Mukherjee weaves at least 4 stories together, connecting the lives of Tara Lata Gangooly (the Tree Bride); her great-great niece, Tara Chatterjee; Tara's OB-GYN Dr. V. Khanna; the Dr.'s grandfather Vertie Treadwell; John Mist, founder of Mishtigunj; and Abbas Sattar Hai, leader of the Indian Mafia. These stories tell of the magic of "coincidence", how each person we meet can have an impact on our lives. An impact that is not felt, sometimes, for generations. As I read the magical history of the Tree Bride, interrupted to retell the adventures (worthy of any Robert Louis Stevenson novel) of John Mist and how he came from a foundling home in London to have a town in East Bengal named for him, I felt like I was hanging on to the sails of an "Indiaman" ship--or running from a tiger through a jungle. But I kept on, hardly able to wait to see how this story connected to the others when I reached the port or crossroads, panting in the sweltering Indian heat. This book effortlessly takes the reader from modern-day California, to 19th century London, to India during the war for independence, back to England--post WWII, to India from native and English points of view during the British Colonial Period. I was truly lost in the storm, and, when the ending did come, beautifully, I wanted to go back and delve deeper into each of the stories. Magical, and highly recommended.