The Taste of Ginger

In the beginning, I appreciated how the main protagonist, Preeti Dasai, feels pressured to get married to an Indian man while living in the United States with her Indian family. In an immigrant family, there are pressures to attend and graduate from a prestigious university as well as to pursue a career with financially stable prospects. Unfortunately, Preeti never got to fully explore her love of photography as a career until after she graduated. I also understand from first hand experience that it's common to identify the host country as your home country and come back to the motherland feeling foreign amongst your own kin while being perceived as a foreigner in the host country. I did assimilate into white American culture to not get bullied or harassed and only know English fluently as my mother tongue. As the story progressed, I couldn't get behind Preeti Dasai and couldn't stand her behavior while she was in India with her family.

I picked this book practically at random as part of Amazon First Reads for the month of Dec 2021, and I have to say I loved it. Being an immigrant myself, I was able to identify with Preeti's identity conflict. I loved the way the author describes life in India. I was transported to a country I've never been as if I was right there. What a great gift!

Blatant Racism Deeply Mars Otherwise Universal Story. This is, without a shred of a doubt, the most racist book I've seen published this Millenium, at minimum - and to think that the normally very solid Lake Union Publishing allowed it under their banner is very discouraging, indeed. While I would never say a book should not be published at all, this is one that no major company - particularly one so large as Amazon - that claims to stand for diversity, inclusion, and equity should ever stand behind. White / America is EVIL according to Shah, and everything wrong in Preeti's life is because she had to try to fit in with “White America”. Bullcrap. You take the commentary about everything White and/ or American being so evil out of this tale and look at just the remaining elements of struggling to fit in, to find oneself despite parental desires, to have your parents accept you as an adult... and you've got a universal tale that applies no matter the race. Everyone goes through these struggles, even in cultures where it appears different. But no, Shah here had to go the racist route and destroy what would have otherwise been a solid, maybe even transcendental, work. While some might think I'm being a bit generous here with 3* based on this write-up, the univeral elements here were done quite well while examining their particulars within Indian culture, particularly looking at both the Indian Diaspora and Indians who never leave the subcontinent - nor want to. And that is where I am confident in still allowing it the three, despite such blatant and rampant racism. Recommended, begrudgingly.

This book is just not my personal taste. I encourage you to try it out if you want.

I had a hard time connecting with the main character, even as an immigrant myself. A lot of what she was going through I also went through, but I was way younger. I think it took her way too long to humanize her mother and parents and give her mother in particular some grace. Like, way too long. Plus, like others have said some of the subplots seemed to just tack on too much and even seem unnecessary to her central development.