Daswani, Kavita. The village bride of Beverly Hills.DASWANI, Kavita. The village bride of Beverly Hills Beverly Hills, city (1990 pop. 31,971), Los Angeles co., S Calif., completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles; inc. 1914. The largely residential city is home to many motion-picture and television personalities. . Penguin, Plume. 271 p. c2004.0-452-28656-5. $14.00. SA This is an enlightening en·light·en tr.v. en·light·ened, en·light·en·ing, en·light·ens 1. To give spiritual or intellectual insight to: farce. In Dehli, India, Priya agrees to an arranged marriage The purpose of an arranged marriage is to form a new family unit by marriage while respecting the chastity of all people involved. As suggested by the term, an arranged marriage is typically arranged by someone other than the persons getting married, curtailing or avoiding the because the groom is handsome; but this marriage means that within a week of her wedding, she is living in California with strangers (aka her new family). Her husband's family wants a traditional wife for their son, because of course that means the new wife will cook and clean and generally become their servant. Priya can do all this, and is somewhat shocked when her mother-in-law suggests she also find a job to bring in money for the family. She starts work as a receptionist for a Hollywood gossip magazine Gossip magazines feature scandalous stories about the personal lives of celebrities. This genre of magazine flourished in North America in the 1950s. The title Confidential alone boasted a monthly circulation in excess of ten million, and it had many competitors, with names like , and this is the beginning of her double-life. Soon, she is dressing in Western clothes (changing at the local Y so her family think she is going to work in her Indian clothes). Her inherent intelligence and sweetness shine when, as a favor for a reporter friend, she does an interview with a movie star, which turns out to be a big success. Soon, she is promoted to reporter and her double life gets to the farce level. After some months of deception, she tries to be honest with her husband, but his loyalties obviously lie with his parents and she returns to India. That isn't the end of the story, however. This is just amazingly fun to read. Daswani writes lovingly of Indian culture, both good and bad--the bad is usually couched in humor humor, according to ancient theory, any of four bodily fluids that determined man's health and temperament. Hippocrates postulated that an imbalance among the humors (blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile) resulted in pain and disease, and that good health was . Clearly, there is tension in the Indian community between those trying to uphold up·hold tr.v. up·held , up·hold·ing, up·holds 1. To hold aloft; raise: upheld the banner proudly. 2. To prevent from falling or sinking; support. 3. traditional ways and those trying to find a way to live in the modern world. Many YA readers understand this tension well, because it exists in whatever culture is under discussion. Even though this is about the first year of a marriage, it's quite a modest narrative, as befits the narrator NARRATOR. A pleader who draws narrs serviens narrator, a sergeant at law. Fleta, 1. 2, c. 37. Obsolete. . Claire Rosser, KLIATT S--Recommended for senior high school students. A--Recommended for advanced students and adults. This code will help librarians and teachers working in high schools where there are honors and advanced placement students. This also will help extend KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries. |
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