Review – Madras on Rainy Days
Madras on Rainy Days by Samina Ali
From the back cover -
“A lyrical debut” (Asian Week) exploring the dilemma confronting Layla, a second generation Indian-American Muslim. As a dutiful Muslim daughter and an independent young American, Layla is torn between clashing identities. Reluctantly agreeing to her parents’ wish for her to leave America and submit to an arranged marriage, Layla enters into the closed world of tradition and ritual as the wedding preparations get under way in Hyderabad. Set against a background of rising Hindu-Muslim violence, and taboo questions of sexuality, Samina Ali presents the complexities of life between the chador, and the story of a marriage where no one is what they seem. In the words of the San Francisco Chronicle, Madras on Rainy Days introduces an “abundantly talented” new voice.
My thoughts -
This book sounded really interesting to me when I originally heard about it and mooched it. I have loved pretty much every novel I’ve read that centers around Indian culture (A Fine Balance, The Namesake, The Space Between Us, etc.), so I assumed I would enjoy this one too. Unfortunately, it simply did not live up to my expectations. The plot was interesting enough – in fact, I think that’s what kept me reading, the plot that kept having drama after drama, I was always interested to find out what would happen next. But I didn’t particularly enjoy any of the characters, they all fell a little flat for me. Even Layla, the main character and narrator, I didn’t feel like I really knew her or cared about her situation at all. I also think that Ali’s writing style didn’t quite do it for me… I hate when that happens, because I do not have a good explanation as to what I didn’t like about it, but I just didn’t connect with the story in the way that I expected to. I think other people might still enjoy this book, though, because the plot was really interesting and very good, so I’d still recommend giving this book a try, even though it wasn’t my favorite.
5 stars.
