Bitter Sweets

This novel starts off in Bangladesh, when Rashid (aka Ricky) Karim, a 17 year old youth with a promising future, is tricked into marrying Henna Rub, a manipulative and deceitful 13 year old, who sees marriage and subsequent motherhood as a way to escape school.

Years later, their daughter Shona elopes with a Pakistani who her family do not approve of. Shona and her husband Parvez run away to London, where money is short, but they are convinced that their love will keep them together. They have twin sons, Omar and Sharif.

As all three generations of the family negotiate their way through life, love and lies, they find themselves seemingly headed on a course to disaster. Will they ever find a way out of their tangled lives?

This book was a show more very pleasant surprise. When I started it, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it, but I found myself hooked on the story and eager to find out what would happen next. The tale takes place in London and Bangladesh, and I enjoyed the descriptions of both places.

If there is a main character, it is probably Shona; she is a beautifully drawn character, and so believable. She is intelligent and compassionate, but also has very human flaws, lying to herself as often as she tries to hide the truth from others. I liked her very much. The other characters are also well developed and easy to believe in.

The storyline had some twists and turns, and kept me hooked. The family soon became ensnared in the tangled web of lies of which they had become part. I had no idea how things would turn out, and thought that the ending when it came was very satisfying. There were themes of humour, sadness, anger and love running throughout the story; the title of this book is very apt, as it was certainly bittersweet.

This is the first book I’ve read by Roopa Farooki, but I am certainly going to seek out her other novels. show less

In summary: enjoyable but forgettable

The rest of this review contains SPOILERS.

I’m not sure if Bitter Sweets is the author’s first novel, but it gives the impression of being one. The characters are a mix of well-developed personalities and quickly drawn outlines. The father (Ricky-Rashid) and daughter (Shona) are enjoyable characters to get to know, and kept me interested in their lives. The mother (Henna), while key to the plot and themes of the novel, feels more like a caricature than a real person. The central theme is that lies, both self-serving and kindly-meant, can shape the lives of individuals and families. Lies become a language that is learned early in a family shaped by them; and the language of lies is difficult to set show more aside for truth.

For the most part, I enjoyed seeing how the first lie in this family, which brought about the marriage of Ricky-Rashid and Henna, reverberated across the generations. Farooki made the progress of her characters’ lives, which were inevitably affected by the first lie, believable and engaging throughout most of the novel. I wasn’t always sure I liked the way she jumped ahead, telling her readers how things would end, just as they were beginning. This technique, while reinforcing the sense that these people cannot escape the consequences of their lies and the lies of their family, was jarring. Even more jarring was the occasional shift to first-person narrative for one character. But in spite of these problems, I found Bitter Sweets to be quite enjoyable while I was reading it. It failed to leave a lasting impression with me, perhaps because of the unevenness of the character development. In addition, the ending of the novel felt very hurried and contrived. Everything turns out unrealistically well, once the final lie is revealed, and all the characters are reconciled beyond all reasonable expectations. It’s a little too “happily ever after” for me. show less

Roopa Farooki’s delightful confection of a book tells the story of three generations of a family of deceivers. Despite their many peccadilloes – sloth, dishonesty, infidelity and bigamy chief among them – Farooki has created a colourful and loveable bunch of characters that are a complete joy to get to know.

The novel starts with the marriage, under false pretenses, of Henna Rub, an underaged Bengladeshi shopkeeper’s daughter, into the established landowning family of Ricky-Rashid and ends (some fifty years later) with an extended family gathering in a London park for a performance by her grandson’s rock band. In between these two events we follow the family of Henna and her erstwhile husband to London where their only show more daughter, Shona, elopes in a “love marriage” to Parvez, a penniless Pakistani. Shona and Parvez give birth to twin sons – timid, bookish Omar and rakish, womanizing Sharif. These six characters spend the entire novel deceiving one another and, just as often, themselves, in their quest for fulfillment.

While the book has no shortage of light moments, it’s essentially a drama and, as such, I was surprised at how deceptively light and easy it is to read. It has a touch of Moliere about it, with its myriad misshaps, misunderstandings and just misses. As they say, Oh what a tangled web we weave...

It’s one of those rare books that I couldn’t wait to get back to each night, to see what twists the story would take.

The author lets the reader see into the thoughts of all the main characters, jumping from person to person, often within one scene. The technique is effective in creating tension, since the reader always knows when two characters are at cross purposes. This comes particularly useful in a story about a group of liars. But it also creates empathy. Even the least likeable characters are allowed to tell their side of the story and Farooki trusts her readers to formulate their own judgments about them. Even the lazy, narcissistic Henna.

My only complaint is that the resolution happens too suddenly and all seems a bit too pat. Almost as if Farooki ran out of steam. I found the story so enjoyable, the writing style so effortless and breezy and the characters so appealing, which probably explains my disappointment that the whole thing ended a tad too abruptly.

All in all, a sparkling debut. I will definitely check out her future work. show less

I was so excited to read this book - especially since its cover boasted similarities to Jhumpa Lahiri as well as Zadie Smith. Marketing based on name-dropping can be seductive; however, in this case it backfires tremendously since the product is so inferior to its proposed company.

First-time author, Roopa Farooki, seems to be constantly trying to convince us that she really is a serious writer in "Bitter Sweets"; however, the one-dimensional characters, artificial situations, and over-explanatory grad-student language can't disguise the banality of it all. The theme of the novel is supposed to be deception, or as it is spelled out on the back cover: "Why is deception so delicious?"

The story involves female trickery to get married, show more mothers who are either too busy for their children or who constantly burn the dinner, secret fertility treatments that turn out "startling" results towards the end of the story, spouses who cheat or become bigamists (but always for justifiable reasons), incestuous (or not?) relationships and, of course, the predictable gay surprise. All in all, it is at times quite entertaining, however, it seems manufactured to appear similar to the current popularity of Indian/Muslim/Culture Clash literature - chick lit light style...

And then there is the language...
It is mostly straight-forward and most everything is tediously explained to bits, but then there are the sprinklings of achingly bad similes and descriptions. I just have to quote some of my favorites:

"His caramel-colored chest was smooth and hairless, and the muscles in his back moved like poetry as he pulled on a pair of casual trousers". (poetry...?)

"The engagement thus confirmed, Ricky truly was the happiest man on earth"

"...(she) was gaining weight at an alarming rate..."

"He kissed her on the forehead again, holding her temples gently on either side. This is what I like about you, right here, in your head. It's like the British Museum, with hidden gifts in hidden rooms. I want to wander in it with you and roam around"

"Ricky felt an icy hand close around his heart - it was too much, it felt like his heart was breaking"

"But he knew that nothing but utter oblivion could take away the pain he felt in the deep pit of his stomach, in the throbbing chambers of his heart which was thumping so loudly he thought the treacherous organ might explode out of his chest and fly after Candida, falling in a bloody, irresolute heap at her terrified feet" (whew...)

In conclusion, this quick-read novel has a tempting premise; however, it is just so painfully trite, including the Disney ending.
Try again, Farooki. show less

A tale of a family who's only facts are interwoven with deceit and false pretensions. Starting out with the lies told in order to become an actress, the grandmother in this story filles her lips with words that are not true in order to capture he ticket out of the country. Once this one ancestor allows lies to be such a central aspect of her life, she not only impacts her own life, but the life of her deceived husband and passes it on in different forms to the generations that follow. A history of falseness is all that the future generations have to live up to. Love, loss, change and growth are themes of Roopa Farooki's Bitter Sweets novel. A family's story through three generations of learned deception and what it takes to break free show more from the expectation to cover-up and pretend-- to lie.

No matter how much lying the characters are doing to eachother, the truth stood stronger and spoke louder than any lie. This was a great interesting, fun read and was so good. I have read some reviews that said it was superficial, I don't agree. I felt the author did an excellent work with her characters, settings and working in beautiful and timeless themes. This is the story of an Indian family, that is split between two nations but could be the story of so many as the daily lives they lead are very easy to relate to. I did enjoy this book throughly.

Roopa Farooki brings up questions of love, true love and arraigned marriages, however in this book truth is the strongest theme. Where would your family be without truth? She brings up and interesting concept, that truth can sometimes be told at the expense of hurting our loved one only to selfishly clear our own conscience. I loved reading Bitter Sweets, it was interesting to see how things took place.

What do you think? Is it truth at all costs or does it depend? It seems to me that truth may hurt for an instant, but mending is on its way....while lies form a web of guilt and pain that smothers love. What are your thoughts? Farooki portrays the Indian culture as valuing appearance over honesty, I would say the same is true in many parts of America (if not all). What do you think, does our culture value appearance over truth? Which wins here politeness or honesty? show less

I received this book as part of the Early Reviewer group here at Library Thing and from St. Martin's Griffin Publishers. My copy is an Advanced Readers' Edition Trade Paperback that will be published in October 2008. The book also includes a Reading Group Gold Section in the back of the book that includes:

-An Interview with the author Roopa Farooki
-Food For Thought
-Reading Group Questions

Roopa Farooki's debut novel is a richly woven tale of three generations of a family with Indian, Pakistani and English backgrounds. The author was able to tell the story through the viewpoints of many characters in the book very smoothly. The main character that stood out for me in the story was Shona, the daughter of Henna and Ricky-Rashid who were show more brought together through an arranged marriage filled with deception. Shona, their only child, married Parvez a young man of Pakistani descent that her parents did not approve of as they were of Bangladeshi descent. They had twin boys who grew up to be very different in nature and personality. The main theme of the book is on the impact that lies and deception can have on a family. At one point, near the end of the story, Shona comes across a quote in a book that makes her question if deception is something she could change. She made a decision that would change the dynamics of her family. I liked Shona's character in the story and how her character along with other characters grew and matured. I disliked Henna, as she appeared to be a very selfish woman who rarely showed love or attention to her husband or daughter unless it was for her own personal gain. The author commented in an interview in the back of the book that explains much about the characters "...in Bitter Sweets the moral conflicts of the characters which lead them to deceive are not a result of religious dilemmas or culture clashes, but rather due to their very personal and ambiguous emotions." Forbidden love as well as faith and fidelity are other strong themes in the book. There were surprises and twists and turns all through the story. I enjoyed reading each creative chapter title as it was a glimpse ahead to the next storyline and it made me want to keep on reading. I was pleased with the ending of the book and where each character ended up in their stage of life. I can imagine a sequel to this book as it would be very interesting to see what happens to the characters next and how their choices may efffect the next generation. I look forward to reading more books by this author and from information from the authors blog a new book will be out in the US next year in 2009. show less

Bitter Sweets by Roopa Farooki (my ARC) is a readable book following the adventures of three generations of an Indian family. Each member of the family shares the same flaw. They are all dishonest liars! As they struggle to control the drama created by deceit, the story develops.
I was not impressed by the lightness of the book. I really dismissed it as being flippant and unrealistic. After all, dishonesty is a serious subject. Several days after finishing the book though, I realized Bitter Sweets was still on my mind. After some thought, I realized that the simple readability, the "too easy" neatness of the plot, the tying together of every loose end, mimicked the very essence of deception. Do you want to tell a good lie? Follow this show more author's writing style! This exploration of human nature would make a fun read at the beach or on a rainy day. show less