Oleander Girl

Oleander Girl by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni -304 pages

Orphaned at birth, seventeen-year-old Korobi Roy is the scion of a distinguished Kolkata family and has enjoyed a privileged, sheltered childhood with her adoring grandparents. But she is troubled by the silence that surrounds her parents’ death and clings fiercely to her only inheritance from them: the love note she found hidden in her mother’s book of poetry. Korobi dreams of one day finding a love as powerful as her parents’, and it seems her wish has come true when she meets the charming Rajat, the only son of a high-profile business family.

But shortly after their engagement, a 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 undertakes 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.

I hold much too high expectations for this author as since Sister of My Heart, nothing she writes can compare. I know that’s not really fair of me, but that this older book was seeped in character development and richness of culture. This newest novel is still a good story with some interesting plot twists, but I didn’t have the same connections with the characters. I think there was more telling us about how the characters felt rather than showing us. I didn’t like Korobi’s “true love” nor did I believe in their relationship. I adored the grandma and Pia-Missy. Both were head-strong and vocal and I’d like to know more about them.

I will continue to read this author’s works as in the end they all are goodreads, yet some are more satisfying than others.