The Vine of Desire

In a novel that reunites the beloved characters of Sister of My Heart, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni explores the emotional ties between two lifelong friends–and how they change when the husband of one is dangerously attracted to the other.

The Vine of Desire continues the story of Anju and Sudha, the two young women at the center of Divakaruni’s bestselling novel Sister of My Heart. Far from Calcutta, the city of their childhood, and after years of living separate lives, Anju and Sudha rekindle their friendship in America. The deep-seated love they feel for each other provides the support each of them needs. It gives Anju the strength to pick up the pieces of her life after a miscarriage, and Sudha the confidence to make a life for herself and her baby daughter, Dayita–without her husband. The women’s bond is shaken to the core when they must confront the deeply passionate feelings that Anju’s husband has for Sudha. Meanwhile, the unlikely relationships they form with men and women in the world outside the immigrant Indian community as well as with their families in India profoundly transform them, forcing them to question the central assumptions of their lives.

A moving and satisfying sequel to Sister of My Heart, The Vine of Desire stands on its own as a novel of extraordinary depth and sensitivity.

Through the eyes of people caught in the clash of cultures, Divakaruni reveals the rewards and the perils of breaking free from the past and the complicated, often contradictory emotions that shape the passage to independence

The beloved characters of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's bestselling novel Sister of My Heart are reunited in this powerful narrative in which the emotional bond between two lifelong friends is challenged, as the husband of one becomes dangerously attracted to the other.

First cousins Anju and Sudha formed an astounding, almost psychic connection during their childhood in India. When Anju invites Sudha, a single mother in Calcutta, to come live with her and her husband, Sunil, in California, Sudha foolishly accepts, knowing that Sunil has long desired her. As Sunil's attraction rises to the surface, the trio must struggle to make sense of the freedoms of America — and of the ties that bind them to India and to one another.

CHITRA BANERJEE DIVAKARUNI is the author of the bestselling novels The Mistress of Spices and Sister of My Heart, the prizewinning story collections Arranged Marriage and The Unknown Errors of Our Lives, and four acclaimed volumes of poetry. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Ms., Zoetrope: All Story, Good Housekeeping, O: The Oprah Magazine, and the New York Times. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area.