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    Someone Else's Garden: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Someone Else's Garden: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Someone Else's Garden: A Novel
    Ebook541 pages7 hours

    Someone Else's Garden: A Novel

    By Dipika Rai

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    The eldest of seven children,born low-caste and female in rural India,Mamta is abused and rejected by a father whocan see no reason to “water someone else’s garden” until ahusband is found for her. Seeking escape in matrimony, Mamta beginsher wedded life with hope—but is soon forced to flee her village and thehorrors of her arranged marriage to the bustle of a small city. Saved from becomingone of the nameless and faceless millions of rejected humanity by thesalvation of sublime love, Mamta struggles to find a precarious state ofacceptance and make peace with her past.

    Powerfully affecting and uplifting, set against a vivid and colorful backgroundof Eastern life, Dipika Rai’s Someone Else’s Garden transcends geographicaldivides and cultural chasms to brilliantly expose the commonalityof the human condition, compelling us to seek answerswithin ourselves to humanity’s eternalquestions: Is life random?Do we have a destiny?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateFeb 1, 2011
    ISBN9780062078582
    Unavailable
    Someone Else's Garden: A Novel

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    Reviews for Someone Else's Garden

    4/5

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    • 4/5
      Someone Else's Garden is the story of Mamta, the eldest daughter of seven children. The setting is rural India in a small village that is governed by the rules and customs of the townspeople. Her father, a cruel, self involved man, arranges her marriage and considers all daughters burdens. After her husband turns abusive, Mamta realizes she must flee to the city in order to save herself and have a life worth living. Returning back to her home is not an option since Mamta now belongs to her husband, no matter how cruel he is. A runaway wife is one of the most shameful acts a daughter can do to her self and family. Yet Mamta is so desperate she feels there is no other option. What follows is her story of finding hope, friends, love and forgiveness.When I finished this story I had to wipe away tears. What a great book. It started off slow, lots of characters were introduced and it was hard to remember who was who. There was not a lot of action. Those of my only critiques. But by the middle of the book, I was attached to the characters and anxious to continue reading about Mamta. I was also expecting this book to be mostly about Mamta, but there is also several other characters that have huge parts in this story. The writing was beautiful and I loved the descriptions of India. There is cruelty and bleakness in this book, but this should not deter one from reading this story. I think the author is trying to remind us that life is often a struggle, but there is beauty in hope and perseverance. Thank you for a wonderful story.
    • 4/5
      Did you ever come across a novel that just left you in awe by the last page? Dipika Rai's novel did that exact thing for me. Rai's writing style not only captured me as a reader, the cultural differences and things that Rai added to this novel, were soul capturing and gut wrenching. It was filled with characters, both good and bad, that come together in a plot like no other. Rai blends the cultural differences, longing, hope, and anger and turns them into a well written, not soon forgotten novel. Now, I will be honest here and say that at first I was confused by the scenes-didn't really get where it was going and why, but once I pushed forward with the story, I understood the need for the slow, confusing start to Mamta's character and her story. And what a story it was....I know that people everywhere, have different religious views, different cultural customs, but this story really outlined what life in India is like for a young woman. I could never, in a billion years, begin to imagine being a woman and not even having the option to make a life for myself and be worth something. Poor Mamta-being sold in to a marriage and never owning her mind-it is immediately owned by her husband. This type of story, though written to be fictional, is a true eye opening experience to life in other countries and cultures. It really hit hard with me and I found myself praying for everything that this young woman Mamta had to go through as she was breaking free from someone else's garden and finding her true self. I encourage everyone to read this book. It's filled with lots of cultural insights and makes the mind set to work. While it's far from favorite novel, it does get 4 stars. The author's talent shines through as the novel captures the readers. Well done, Dipika!