The Mistress of Spices

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

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A first novel by the author of the short story collection, "Arranged Marriage," "The Mistress of Spices" is a mystical tale told by Tilo, a young Indian woman in an old woman's body who has been trained in the secret power of spices. Her special knowledge leads her to Oakland, California where she uses it to help the local Indian community by opening a spice shop from which she administers spices as curatives. Tilo can see into people's hearts and minds but it is a mistress' duty to keep herself at a distance, "not too far or near, in calm kindness poised." However, Tilo is unable to obey her charge, and she becomes emotionally involved with her customers as they struggle with the demands of their families, the clash of the old way versus the American way, racism, abusive husbands--all of the complexities of living in the modern world.

It is also her duty to limit her involvement to the Indian community. But Tilo finds herself mysteriously drawn to an American man named Raven, whose innermost thoughts she cannot read. Her complex and passionate relationships with her customers and Raven are in violation of her spice mistress vows, and so she finds herself forced to choose between the magical life of an immortal and the vicissitudes of life in the real world. Vibrant, vivacious, headstrong and daring, Tilo is unforgettable and so is her story.

Book Details

Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publish Date: Feb 17th, 1998
Pages: 352
Language: English
Edition: undefined - undefined
Dimensions: 7.90in - 5.10in - 0.80in - 0.85lb
EAN: 9780385482387
Categories: • Cultural Heritage• Literary• Magical Realism

About the Author

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is the author of the novels Queen of Dreams, The Mistress of Spices, Sister of My Heart, Before We Visit the Goddess, One Amazing Thing, Oleander Girl, and The Vine of Desire, and of the prizewinning story collections Arranged Marriage and The Unknown Errors of Our Lives. She lives in Houston, Texas, and teaches creative writing at the University of Houston.

Praise for this book

"An unusual, clever, and often exquisite first novel...The result is rather as if Isabel Allende met Laura Esquivel."
--Los Angeles Times

"Divakaruni's prose is so pungent that it stains the page, yet beneath the sighs and smells of this brand of magic realism she deftly introduces her true theme: how an ability to accommodate desire enlivens not only the individual heart but a society cornered by change."
--The New Yorker

"The Mistress of Spices is a dazzling tale of misbegotten dreams and desires, hopes and expectations, woven with poetry and storyteller magic."
--Amy Tan

"A splendid novel, beautifully conceived and crafted."
--Pat Conroy