Book Review: Sister Of My Heart By Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

This story is about two girls named Anju and Sudha.  They live with their aunt Pishi and their mothers Nalini and Gouri Ma.  Before they were born, their fathers went looking for a cave that was said to have rubies that would make them rich.  We see the women of this family navigate life without their husbands and raise their two girls.  Sudha and Anju are cousins but are so close and love each other so much, they feel like sisters.  Sisters of the heart to be exact. 

However, there is a family secret that Sudha finds out that changes everything. Because of this secret, Sudha feels like she owes Anju for everything. Sudha’s Mother Nalini came to Pishi and Gouri Ma’s household with Sudha’s father, penniless. But being that he told them he was a cousin of Bijoy, Sudha’s father, they took him and his new wife in and they became family.

Throughout the book, we see the girls growing up. Sudha’s first love, Anju meeting her husband for the first time, their double wedding and how their lives change after they get married and Anju moves to America while Sudha stays in India with her new family.

This is a beautifully written book. Banerjee really gets you hooked with her stylish writing. You can just imagine yourself in Calcutta and the Chatterjee household. You get a sense of their culture as well, which I have always enjoyed. This is a love story of a different kind. A love between two cousins who would do anything and sacrifice their own happiness for the other.

I first read this book in high school and instantly fell in love with it.  It was just so well written and I found myself engrossed in their culture and in the characters and what was going on in their lives. I've read it on more than one occasion, that's how good this book is. It's one I go back to time and time again.

About the Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Chitra was born in Kolkata, India.  She received her Bachelor's of Arts from the University of Calcutta in 1976 and moved to the United States that same year to attend Wright State University where she received her Master's degree.  She later received her PH.D. in English at the University of California, Berkeley. She held many odd jobs to pay for her education.  While attending Berkeley, Divakaruni lived in the International House and worked in the dining hall. She has lived in Illinois and Ohio but has spent most of her life in Northern California. She currently lives in Houston, Texas where she teaches in the Creative Writing program at the University of Houston.