Mistress of Spices  

Divakaruni's first novel, The Mistress of Spices, revolves around Tilo, an Indian girl with magical powers.

After Tilo survives a shipwreck and is trained by a mysterious figure, she is sent through transmigration to act as the Mistress of Spices in an Indian store in Oakland, California. There she serves the overt and hidden needs of her Indian immigrant clientele. When Tilo falls in love with an Indian American, she must choose between her magic and a more mundane life.

The novel garnered glowing reviews for the author's lyrical style, its combination of fantasy and realism, and its portrayal of the immigrant experience that goes beyond the stereotypical. "Divakaruni has written an unusual, clever and often exquisite first novel that stirs magical realism into the new conventions of culinary fiction and the still-simmering caldron of Indian immigrant life in America," praised Shashi Tharoor in a contribution to the Los Angeles Times Book Review. ...

Likewise, Bob maintained that "due to Divakaruni's lovely prose, the magic seems reliable and credible." On the topic of magic, however, Tharoor remarked otherwise. "Although Divakaruni does the magic rather well, writing about the mystical spices in prose that raises light off the page like so many wisps of incense, she is best at the realism. She has a keen feel for immigrant life."

Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2009. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2009.

Other books by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni include

Sister of my Heart (2000),

Arranged Marriage (1996), and

The Palace of Illusions (2009).

Chitra Divakaruni

At the San Mateo Performing Arts Center
Thursday, October 1, 2009
At 7:00 pm
Free and open to all
600 N. Delaware Street, San Mateo

Chitra Divakaruni will appear with KALW public radio's “New America Now” host Sandip Roy. Roy will explore with Divakaruni the characters, themes and storylines of The Mistress of Spices. This event includes audience Q & A and book sales and signings by Ms. Divakaruni.

At the Collge of San Mateo Theatre
Friday, October 2, 2009
At 11:00 am
1700 West Hillsdale Boulevard, San Mateo

Chitra Divakaruni, the acclaimed author of The Mistress of Spices and The Palace of Illusions, discusses the characters, themes and storylines of The Mistress of Spices, followed by Q & A and book sales and signings.