Love Marriage: A Novel (2008)

This is a brilliant and amazing read. The author crafts an engaging story; others have described it here. I, however, will speak to the writing. V.V. has taken seemingly ordinary English words and placed them in a blend that is musical and poetic. Her sentences and paragraphs had me in awe and delight. There are no tricks or contortions. Simple words have been masterfully put together. They conveyed perspective, emotionally tugging and creating a mental surprise. There was dynamic tension and soothing revelation. V.V. kept up this efficient but consistent pace throughout the book. I finished the book last night and felt as if I lost a friend. The rhythm of the writing echoed in me and left me satisfied and wanting more. I highly recommend this book. ( )

Love Marriage is the first novel of promising young writer V.V. Ganeshananthan. What began as her Harvard senior thesis has blossomed into a multi-generational, multicultural tale of love, tradition, and family.

The fictional story unfolds through the eyes of Yalini, an American-born daughter of Sri Lankan immigrants. As Yalini reveals the secrets of her family's past in Sri Lanka, including the story of her uncle, a former militant Tamil Tiger, readers witness her internal struggle between American modernity and the customs of her ancestors. The thread of differing types of marriages (arranged, love, self-arranged, outside, cousin, village, abroad, without consent, under pressure, proper and improper) unites the pieces of her relative's stories that she can wheedle out of her close-lipped parents. For the rest, she must rely on her dying uncle, whose time is quickly coming to a close.

Reminiscent of Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake, Ganeshananthan's Love Marriage has the capability to transcend American indifference, quietly sharing the background and history of a culture frequently identified as the enemy. The novel, well researched and magnificently crafted, will surely (and thankfully) not be the last we see from Ganeshananthan.

Many thanks to LibraryThing and Random House for providing me with an Advance Reader's Edition of this book through the Early Reviewers program. More of my book reviews can be found at: www.libraryscenester.wordpress.com ( )

A solid first novel told in short stories that make it an ideal choice for reading on short subway rides and other interrupted travels. I know nothing about Sri Lanka or its history, and was captivated by the story of the family told in this book. The book occasionally used Capital Letters to define terms (e.g., Love Marriage...Heart), which I found more irritating than effective. Definitely an enjoyable read. ( )

Bored me but found the Sri Lankan history worth it. To see my full review please see my blog post here: http://amusedbybooks.blogspot.com/2009/12/at-least-i-learned-something.html ( )