|
READING GUIDE
Discussion
questions
1. Are you or any of your friends part of a mixed-race,
mixed-religion couple? If so, what was your or your friends’
experience with their family and friends?
2. Did you think that it would have been better if Priya had
just told her family outright she was engaged to Nick? Or did you
feel that what she did was justified?
3. What is your relationship with your mother and how did you
feel about Priya’s relationship with hers? Do you think Priya and
Radha will ever come to terms? Or will their love-hate relationship
remain a lifelong phenomenon?
4. Have you eaten south Indian food before? What did you
think of the recipes in the book? Would you try to make any of the
dishes?
5. The concept of arranged marriage was a big part of this
story. Was it described the way you thought it usually is in India
or was it very different?
6. How did you feel when you found out in the end that Nick
is black? And why?
7. Who was your favorite character in the book? And why?
8. Priya realizes that she can never really go back home
because she has changed so much and she feels everyone at home, in
India, is still the same. Do you agree with her?
9. Food is an integral part of Priya’s family and the kitchen
is where most of the story takes place. What are your family
get-togethers like and what kind of food is cooked and how?
10. Did you find Nick to be a realistic person or did you
find that he was a little too nice and understanding, and therefore
unreal?
11. Did you think in the end the author tied everything up too
nicely or did you feel that there was still plenty of conflict Priya
would have to deal with after the book ended?
12. How did Priya influence other members of her family? Do you
feel that she was the catalyst for the changes that took place in
Lata, Sowmya and Anand or was it an inevitable change that would
have occurred no matter what?
13. When Adarsh tells Priya he used to have an American-Chinese
girlfriend, why do you think Priya doesn't tell him about Nick? |
I
winced; I was doing that complaining-about-India thing all of us
American-returned Indians did. I had lived here for twenty years,
yet seven years later, the place was a hellhole.
BUY THE BOOK
EXCERPT
REVIEWS
AUTHOR'S NOTE
READING GUIDE
INTERVIEW |
