Anybody read it?  I finished it last night.  It's my first book by Bharti Kirchner.  I just loved it! 

It's the story of two sisters raised on their family's tea plantation.  Their mother died when they were young and their grandmother took over the job of raising them.  The story starts with the Grandmother calling the sister's back to India for her 81st birthday.  Part of the book goes back into the past where we learn why family members no longer speak to each other.

She's a wonderful story teller.  The book puts you right in the heart of Darjeeling, India.  You feel like you're there without the author being overly descriptive.  Her style is very similar to Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and Amy Tan.

It's a really moving story.  I enjoyed it very much.

It sounds really interesting, Melody. (Too bad it's not on your bookshelf, I would've snatched it up!)

 I am very interested in novels based in or about India. I went there earlier this year and just loved it.  Such an amalgam of smells, sounds and so many, many people!  

Ever read Shantaram?  It's such an amazing story.  It's 900+ pages, so it's quite the commitment, but I really loved it.  It's becoming a movie starring Johnny Depp, directed by Mira Nair.

i have both your recs on my wishlist!

Suzanne, someone beat you to it! :) 

I've never read Shantaram.  I'll have too look it up.

India fascinates me as well.  It's a culture so different from America.  I really enjoy books that are set there.  This books really shows the conflict between generations, keeping ones traditions, trying to adapt to another country, and so forth.  Interesting themes. 

I'm going to look for her other books as I really enjoyed this one.

(By the way, if either of you are interested I have Divakaruni's Mistress of Spices on my bookshelf.  It's a fascinating book set in the tradition of Indian folk medicine.)