Rani Manicka

I love a good long family saga, and this book nailed that.

At the age of 14, Lakshmi is married off to a rich man in Malaysia. She travels from her home in Ceylon, only to discover he isn't rich, and he is also not bright. He is kind though, and his home is better than what she came from. And then we learn of her children and some grandchildren--through the Japanese occupation in Word War II, dreams of education and marriage, children and businesses.

This book is 400+ pages and is very good, but it is also hard. There is so much sadness, regret, and sorrow.… (more)

"When the puppet master gives you wings of course you must fly away, but remember to beware the predators in the sky."

The descriptions of Bali in the opening chapters were beautiful and such a contrast to the later portrayal of dreary London's drug scene. The view of Bali in the eye's of the twins, their father and grandmother was also interesting, with the elder generations being deeply connected to their homeland and the younger generation wanting to escape and seek adventure. However, the beautiful aspect soon disappears and we are faced with the very graphic and harsh realities of drug addiction, corruption, exploitation and prostitution, which leads to the downfall of the main characters.

This was a difficult read, not because of the content, but due to some extremely long chapters where a lot is said, but not a lot happens. It was hard to feel any empathy or emotion for the characters, but at the same time this made the story real and believable. Unfortunately, what ultimately ruined this book for me was the author's self-insert into the story line. It was self-conceited, unnecessary and in poor taste. It completely detracted from the story line and felt false. The first-person account was also grating.… (more)

I have developed a dislike of novels that are set in another country and that rely in large part on superstitions common to that country. For example, many Chinese and Japanese novels will involve superstitions about a person's marriage, about where tableware must be placed to ward off bad spirits, about incidents that portend bad or good thing ahead. Perhaps because I am more "rational" than most, I tend to find the reliance of the characters on superstitions tiresome and irritating.

There is certainly superstition here, of a similar nature. The main character, Lakshmi, is from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Born in 1916, she is married young in an arranged marriage and moves to Malaysia with her new, older husband. Her mother had been given to understand that her new husband was rich and that therefore Lakshmi would be able to live the life she deserved. But it was a trick. He had borrowed a watch and a car and driver to give the appearance of wealth. Lakshmi soon discovered that he was poor and, more, that he would be unlikely ever to raise above his present position.

Lakshmi is determined to make this work. She is no stranger to hard work and is not afraid of it. She takes on the maintenance of the house and the fixing of meals, the cleaning of clothing. When she discovers that her husband has had a bad habit of borrowing money, she steps in to clean up the accounts and get the money going where it needs to go. Fortunately, her husband cares deeply for her and does as he is told. He is a kind man, if not as intelligent and capable as she is.

The story takes us from Lakshmi's beginnings to her friendship with a young woman who works as a servant next door, to the birth of her several children. The first children, twins, are born with the cross of a fortune-teller's warnings on them. Thus the superstitions begin to reign, even when dismissed by Lakshmi. We watch the children grow and in some cases have children of their own, and eventually we even meet the great-grandchildren.

So not only is there a layer of superstition, but also a multi-generational theme. I am most fond of characters in novels, and usually when there are many generations the details of the individuals become lost and it just becomes "a story". Not so in this case. Lakshmi's strength and character clearly mark her as "the rice mother", and her personality is memorable to the end. Several of her children also get to speak and we easily distinguish the differences. It is possible to become attached or at least interested by some of the children and grandchildren. A great-grandchild has a story at least as interesting as Lakshmi's, which was like a bonus, a novel within a novel. AFter a while I felt like I wanted this story to keep going, to become a series, almost. Most unlike me, but certainly a tribute to the honesty of the writing.… (more)