The Village Bride of Beverly Hills

by Kavita Daswani

Overview

The author of the “enchanting” and “delightful” (USA Today) debut novel For Matrimonial Purposes returns with a romantic comedy about a new bride leading a secret double life.

After an arranged marriage in her native India, Priya moves with her husband to California, where they share a house with his parents.  Playing the traditional daughter-in-law role, she’s expected to clean, cook, and—because she doesn’t immediately get pregnant—find a job as well!

But the job, at a glossy Hollywood gossip magazine, isn’t at all what Priya’s in-laws had in mind for a traditional Indian wife.  She soon finds herself with a secret life that she must hide from her disapproving new family.

All the while, she is growing into a marriage with a man whose loyalty is decidedly torn between his parents and his bride.  This is hardly surprising, given that he met his wife only a week before their wedding.  The question is, can this fragile new love survive the pull between tradition and ambition?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780452286566
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/28/2005
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Kavita Daswani has been a fashion correspondent for CNN, CNBC Asia, and Women’s Wear Daily, has written for the Los Angeles Times and the International Herald Tribune, among many other publications, and has been the fashion editor for the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"The culture-clash dilemmas ring heartbreakingly true." —Entertainment Weekly

"Fairy tale fun bursts from the confines of an arranged Indian marriage in this delectable follow-up to For Matrimonial Purposes." —Publishers Weekly

Editorial Reviews

"The culture-clash dilemmas ring heartbreakingly true." —Entertainment Weekly

"Fairy tale fun bursts from the confines of an arranged Indian marriage in this delectable follow-up to For Matrimonial Purposes." —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

This is an enlightening farce. In Dehli, India, Priya agrees to an arranged marriage 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, 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. Clearly, there is tension in the Indian community between those trying to uphold 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 thenarrator. KLIATT Codes: SA—Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2004, Penguin, Plume, 271p., Ages 15 to adult.
—Claire Rosser

KLIATT