Review: The Taste of Ginger, Mansi Shah

Hello and Happy New Year! Welcome The Cozy Book Blog by Diane-Lyn. I am thrilled to be today’s stop on the virtual book tour for The Taste of Ginger, an extraordinary debut novel by Mansi Shah. I hope you enjoy my review below. Many thanks to Lisa Munley at TLC Book Tours for the invite. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Best, Diane-Lyn

Synopsis:

In Mansi Shah’s stunning debut novel, a family tragedy beckons a first-generation immigrant to the city of her birth, where she grapples with her family’s past in search of where she truly belongs.

After her parents moved her and her brother to America, Preeti Desai never meant to tear her family apart. All she did was fall in love with a white Christian carnivore instead of a conventional Indian boy. Years later, with her parents not speaking to her and her controversial relationship in tatters, all Preeti has left is her career at a prestigious Los Angeles law firm.

But when Preeti receives word of a terrible accident in the city where she was born, she returns to India, where she’ll have to face her estranged parents…and the complicated past they left behind. Surrounded by the sights and sounds of her heritage, Preeti catches a startling glimpse of her family’s battles with class, tradition, and sacrifice. Torn between two beautifully flawed cultures, Preeti must now untangle what home truly means to her.

Diane-Lyn’s Review:

Preeti is a young woman caught between two vastly different cultures, and never fully belonging to either one. As a child, Preeti’s privileged, upper-caste family left their home country of India and immigrated to America. Once here, their lives changed drastically. Finances tightened, forcing her parents into entry-level jobs and a lower standard of living. Preeti and her brother, Neel, endured racism and cruelty in school as they fought desperately to fit into their new community, all while losing themselves in the process. In an effort to survive, the siblings “Americanized” themselves as much as possible but were often conflicted between blending in and remaining loyal to their roots and strict parental expectations, traditions and values. Years later, when a family tragedy necessitates a trip back to India, Preeti soon realizes she had forgotten the customs of her native land, and again feels like an outsider.

Shah captured these struggles poignantly, all while seamlessly interweaving additional themes, characters, and events into the plot line. I’m sure most readers will connect with the dynamics and strife of the Desai family – much of which is universal. A mother’s expectations and aspirations for her children go head to head with a daughter’s quest to find her own way, the favoring of one adult child over the other, the constant power struggles, the pressure to maintain the appearance of a perfect family even when everything is falling apart. The inner workings of a family are always so different than what is visible. The truth is, all families are complicated and Shah illustrated these challenges in such an empathetic and relatable way. I could sympathize with Preeti and Neel. They were always under intense pressure to succeed, and in a position that didn’t allow for mistakes. Their race constantly dictated how much harder they needed to work in a white privilege society. It was certainly eye-opening.

It took me a while to warm to Preeti’s mother. I really didn’t like her throughout most of the book. I couldn’t understand how she could raise her children in America, but then stop speaking to Preeti because she was involved with a white man (Honestly, what did she expect?). She just seemed unrealistic, cold, rigid, and not very maternal. However, later in the book so much was revealed about her mother’s history, and everything about her started to make sense. I enjoyed her mother’s evolvement over time. I was better able to understand her as she began to open up about her long buried pain, and how it shaped her decisions. It became clear that, despite her tough exterior, she was fundamentally not that different than other mothers. She loved her children. She wanted to protect them. Her decisions were based on what she thought was right at the time. Mistakes were made, but honestly, motherhood is hard. She clearly had done the best she could.

I loved how Shah incorporated India’s customs and traditions into this novel, as well as its beauty. The sights, smells and sounds of India were all around me. I truly felt like I was there sipping chai and smelling spicy cooking; or making my way through busy streets, overcrowded with people, cows and rickshas. Even more interesting were the striking cultural contrasts. I was aware that many Indian marriages are arranged, but still surprised at just how unyielding some of these arrangements are, and the limited choices one has in selecting a spouse. Often, marriage decisions are not based on love, but rather on caste and social status and this is not taken lightly. In fact, any deviation from these norms can ruin an entire family. Marriage is a business transaction. First you marry, then you date, then you fall in love. Of course, love is not guaranteed, and one can only hope for a union that is workable. And speaking of unions, The Taste of Ginger illustrates India’s zero tolerance for homosexuality. When Shah introduces a gay character, I was deeply saddened by the reality of his life in an extremely homophobic country where roles are so firmly set, and being gay can have life-threatening repercussions on people and their families.

Shah added a staggering, gut wrenching layer to the novel by taking the reader through the process of a tragic, epic loss; the shock, the aftermath, and its bitter effect on people and relationships. In any society, nothing tests a marriage more than the unimaginable loss of a child. Regardless of culture, people are people, and heartache is heartache. I was so moved by Shah’s ability to fully immerse the reader into every aspect of such a loss, deeply feeling each painful stage in the process, and its impact on every area of a parent’s life. It was written with such poignancy that I found myself fully absorbed in the devastation, as if I were among the grieving characters. A debut novel that so profoundly captures a reader in this way can only be the work of a gifted writer. Bravo!

The Taste of Ginger reminds us that regardless of differing cultures, we are all just human beings trying to find our way in the world. We all have the same basic needs – to be loved and accepted; to belong. I was drawn to Preeti’s personal growth over time as she started coming to terms with her identity. No culture is perfect, but it seemed Preeti was learning to embrace them both.

Wow! The Taste of Ginger is a masterpiece! This novel is extremely well written and well organized. It encompasses so much, yet it’s easy to follow and the pacing is steady. The characters and themes are varied, but they are smoothly intertwined into the plot line without any jumpy shifts. Shah did a remarkable job of incorporating robust imagery and the beauty of India. I was impressed with her ability to connect imperfect, complex characters with a riveting chain of events to deliver a deeply engaging, realistic and highly relatable story. Despite my busy schedule and limited time to complete this book, I sailed through it quickly. I found myself rooting for the Desai clan and I’d love to hear more about how each of them fared after the story ended. There is so much potential for a sequel and I do hope Mansi Shah will consider a continuation of this narrative. Fingers crossed!

I loved The Taste of Ginger and highly recommend Shah’s debut novel to all adult readers. Gripping and emotional, this will be a novel you will not soon forget.

“I feel like an outsider everywhere I go,” Preeti Desai, The Taste of Ginger (Mansi Shah)

“Fitting in is about assessing a situation and becoming who you need to be to be accepted. Belonging, on the other hand, doesn’t require us to change who we are; it requires us to be who we are.” Brene Brown

To purchase your own copy of The Taste of Ginger, click here: Amazon. Note that this is an Amazon affiliate ink, which only means that when you click the link and purchase the book, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. My opinions remain my own. Happy reading!

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