Synopses & Reviews
"Enchanting! Mukherjee's pitch-perfect ear for character and mood and her storytelling gifts capture the exhilarating restlessness of a young Indian woman's pursuit of happiness.
Miss New India illuminates as brilliantly as it entertains."
—Amy Tan
Anjali Bose is “Miss New India.” Born into a traditional lower-middle-class family and living in a backwater town with an arranged marriage on the horizon, Anjali’s prospects don’t look great. But her ambition and fluency in language do not go unnoticed by her expat teacher, Peter Champion. And champion her he does, both to other powerful people who can help her along the way and to Anjali herself, stirring in her a desire to take charge of her own destiny.
So she sets off to Bangalore, India’s fastest-growing major metropolis, and quickly falls in with an audacious and ambitious crowd of young people, who have learned how to sound American by watching shows like Seinfeld in order to get jobs as call-center service agents, where they are quickly able to out-earn their parents. And it is in this high-tech city where Anjali—suddenly free from the traditional confines of class, caste, gender, and more—is able to confront her past and reinvent herself. Of course, the seductive pull of modernity does not come without a dark side . . .
"Each character fascinates, and every detail glints with irony and intent, as Mukherjee brilliantly choreographs her compelling protagonist’s struggles against betrayal, violence, and corruption in a dazzling plot." —Booklist, starred
Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, Bharati Mukherjee is the author of seven novels and two short story collections and is the coauthor of two books of nonfiction. She is a professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley. Read more at www.missnewindia.blogspot.com.
Review
"Enchanting! Mukherjee's pitch-perfect ear for character and mood and her story-telling gifts capture the exhilarating restlessness of a young Indian woman's pursuit of happiness.
Miss New India illuminates as brilliantly as it entertains."
—Amy Tan "A tightly woven narrative about naïvete and personal growth in contemporary India...Mukherjee explores Anjali's issues with understanding and sympathy."
—Kirkus Reviews
"Each character fascinates, and every detail glints with irony and intent, as Mukherjee brilliantly choreographs her compelling protagonist's struggles against betrayal, violence, and corruption in a dazzling plot."
—Booklist (starred)
Synopsis
An ambitious small-town girl flees an arranged marriage and finds herself having all sorts of adventures —p rofessional, social and sexual — in Bangalore.
Synopsis
Anjali Bose is “Miss New India.” Born into a traditional lower-middle-class family and living in a backwater town with an arranged marriage on the horizon, Anjalis prospects dont look great. But her expatriate English teacher, Peter Champion, realizes her potential, and champion her he does, to other powerful people who make Anjalis desire to take charge of her own destiny a reality. So she sets off to Bangalore, Indias fastest-growing major metropolis, and quickly falls in with an ambitious crowd of young people, who have learned how to sound American by television in order to work as call-center service agents. In Bangalore, Anjali—suddenly free from the traditional confines of class, caste, gender, and more—is able to confront her past and reinvent herself. Of course, the seductive pull of modernity does not come without a dark side . . .
Synopsis
"Enchanting! Mukherjee's pitch-perfect ear for character and mood and her storytelling gifts capture the exhilarating restlessness of a young Indian woman's pursuit of happiness.
Miss New India illuminates as brilliantly as it entertains." —Amy Tan
Anjali Boses prospects dont look great. Born into a traditional lower-middle‑class family, she lives in a backwater town with only an arranged marriage on the horizon. But her ambition, charm, and fluency in language do not go unnoticed by her charismatic and influential expat teacher, Peter Champion. And champion her he does, both to powerful people who can help her along the way and to Anjali herself, stirring in her a desire to take charge of her own destiny. So she sets off to Bangalore, Indias fastest‑growing metropolis, and soon falls in with an audacious and ambitious crowd of young people, who have learned how to sound American by watching shows like Seinfeld in order to get jobs in call centers, where they quickly out‑earn their parents. And it is in this high‑tech city where Anjali — suddenly free of the confines of class, caste, and gender — is able to confront her past and reinvent herself. Of course, the seductive pull of life in the New India does not come without a dark side . . . "Each character fascinates, and every detail glints with irony and intent, as Mukherjee brilliantly choreographs her compelling protagonists struggles against betrayal, violence, and corruption in a dazzling plot." —Booklist, starred
Synopsis
Praise for Miss New India "Mukherjees pitch‑perfect ear for character and mood and her storytelling gifts capture the exhilarating restlessness of a young Indian womans pursuit of happiness." — Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club Praise for Bharati Mukherjee "Bharati Mukherjee is writing achingly compassionate, ravishingly beautiful, absolutely essential books." — Robert Olen Butler "Funny, intelligent, versatile . . . profound." — Washington Post Book World "Stunning . . . Her characters stand on the shaky ground where East meets West and the sound of cultures clashing could shatter glass." — Los Angeles Times "Mukherjee has eloquently succeeded in creating a kind of impressionistic fable, a prose poem, about being an exile, a refugee, a spiritual vagabond in the world today." — New York Times "Engrossing . . . Mukherjee once again presents all the shock, pain and liberation of exile and transformation." — USA Today "Mukherjee has emerged as an exemplary author." — Washington Post
About the Author
Winner of a National Book Critics Circle Award, BHARATI MUKHERJEE is the author of eight novels, two story collections, and the coauthor of two books of nonfiction. She is a professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley.