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Sister of My Heart
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Sister of My Heart
Author: Chitra Divakaruni

Book Information
Publisher: Anchor
Book Type: Paperback
Rating:

ISBN-13: 9780385489515 - ISBN-10: 038548951X
Pages: 336


Other Versions of this Book: Hardcover

Book Description:
From the award-winning author of Mistress of Spices, the bestselling novel about the extraordinary bond between two women, and the family secrets and romantic jealousies that threaten to tear them apart.

Anju is the daughter of an upper-caste Calcutta family of distinction. Her cousin Sudha is the daughter of the black sheep of that same family. Sudha is startlingly beautiful; Anju is not. Despite those differences, since the day on which the two girls were born, the same day their fathers died--mysteriously and violently--Sudha and Anju have been sisters of the heart. Bonded in ways even their mothers cannot comprehend, the two girls grow into womanhood as if their fates as well as their hearts were merged.

But, when Sudha learns a dark family secret, that connection is shattered. For the first time in their lives, the girls know what it is to feel suspicion and distrust. Urged into arranged marriages, Sudha and Anju's lives take opposite turns. Sudha becomes the dutiful daughter-in-law of a rigid small-town household. Anju goes to America with her new husband and learns to live her own life of secrets. When tragedy strikes each of them, however, they discover that despite distance and marriage, they have only each other to turn to.

Set in the two worlds of San Francisco and India, this exceptionally moving novel tells a story at once familiar and exotic, seducing readers from the first page with the lush prose we have come to expect from Divakaruni. Sister of My Heart is a novel destined to become as widely beloved as it is acclaimed.

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The Mistress of SpicesArranged Marriage : StoriesThe Unknown Errors of Our Lives : StoriesThe Vine of Desire : A NovelQueen of Dreams


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Top Member Book Reviews

Angelika F. (READ-LEARN-LAUGH) wrote on 5/18/2009...

1 member(s) found this review helpful.

I loved this book ,this book was like reading a great story intertwined with a special bed time story(or a family history) read to you by a favorite aunt,At the core it is a story of 2 girls who are connected as family but are not.One who feels like it is her karma to make things right.It has sorrow and beauty all rolled into an exotic culture.(Like me who knows nothing about Indian culture or mythology)I enjoyed learning about people of another culture,yet the themes are universal.

Carla P. (Happyreader) wrote on 12/23/2006...

1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Good book. Great for book clubs.

Lynn K. (Quilterlynn) wrote on 10/1/2006...

1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Excellent storyline-beautifully written. A bridge between India and America, the peoples of each, the realtionship of family members,

Highly recommend. Kept me intrigued.


Please Rate these Book Reviews

Shanonn H. wrote on 1/17/2009...


Sudha & Anju are sisters in their own way, not by blood, rather by birth, by life and by the secrets they hold in their hearts. Their love for each other is almost clairvoyant, until the day of their marriages...

Kerry P. (baylee) wrote on 5/9/2008...


Wow what an amazing book of two girls whose lives could not be any more different from the others but how their love keeps them together through it all.

Kate G. (KatieG) wrote on 9/14/2007...


A very richly told story. A book about family, dreams, heartbreak, love, and sacrifice. A very enjoyable book.

Karen G. (scrappinkaren) wrote on 4/8/2007...


I loved this book and its tale of two young women in two different worlds. . . .

Amy R. (AimForHim) wrote on 2/21/2007...


I enjoyed reading about India and the details of culture etc.

Clare V. wrote on 2/17/2007...


Good book and excellent for book clubs

Karen M. wrote on 1/18/2007...


Contemporary novel about Indian who live in Calcutta and then America. Good

Jennifer J. (treemom) wrote on 9/24/2006...


very enjoyable

Kathryn (Kmarie) wrote on 9/11/2006...


Anju is the daughter of an upper-caste Calcutta family of distinction. Sudha is the daughter of the black sheep of that same family. Sudha is startlingly beautiful; Anju is not. Despite these differences, since the day the two girls were born - the same day their fathers died, mysteriously and violentlySudha and Anju have been sisters of the heart. When Sudha learns a dark family secret, that connection is threatened. For the first time in their lives, the girls know what it is to feel suspicion and distrust - Sudha, because she feels a new shame that she cannot share with Anju; and Anju, because she discovers the seductive power of her sister's beauty, a power Sudha herself is incapable of controlling. When, due to a change in family fortune, the girls are urged into arranged marriages, their lives take opposite turns. One travels to America, and one remains in India; both have lives of secrets. When tragedy strikes both of them, however, they discover that, despite distance and marriage, they must turn to each other once again.

Kitty P. wrote on 8/27/2006...


Story of Sudha and Anju, cousins in Calcutta, but who grew up differently though together. Their close bonds are shattered when one discovers a dark family secret. Arranged marriages, moves to America, and tragedy pepper this book. I enjoyed it very much.


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