Where the Peacocks Sing: A Palace, a Prince, and the Search for Home
Alison Singh Gee
Category: Nonfiction:
Memoir: Asia & Asian-American
Synopsis: Asian-American
Gee falls in love with Indian Ajay while living in Hong Kong.
Date finished: 30
May 2013
Rating: ***½
Comments:
I love books about other cultures and other parts of the
world. I love descriptions of daily life, meals, and how homes are furnished
around the globe. I love books about the journey to finding home or the
challenges of creating it. I like stories about two people from different
places discovering each other. I love happy endings. This book had all of those
elements.
And yet, I was disappointed.
Perhaps the book was too tidy. Everything pertaining to
relationships—Gee’s and Ajays, Gee’s and her in-laws—got tied up so neatly. But
the big plot point—what would become of the havli (the Singh family’s
manor/palace), Mokimpur—this was not resolved. Perhaps I never fully trusted
the narrator’s change of heart that led to a change of pace. Perhaps the amount
of emphasis put on money in all three cultures was off-putting.
Read as is, though, this was a nice light travel to India
(with a bit of Hong Kong and Los Angeles mixed in). It just wasn’t completely
satisfying to me.
Would you recommend
this to a friend?
Probably not. Although I might recommend it to anyone truly charmed
by India.
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My Berlin Kitchen: A Love Story (with Recipes) by
Luisa Weiss
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Hi Carrie -- thanks for taking the time to read, comment and link to my review. I think your comment that the memoir felt tidy is a good one. As is the point about money throughout the book. I had a hard time with that particular aspect of it too. I loved the sense of culture and place, just had a few issues with some of the story arc that was hanging on.
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