The Mango Season

My favorite book is Serving Crazy with Curry by the same author, so I had high expectations. I didn't enjoy it as much, but it was thoroughly enjoyable. The Mango Season has a great interweaving of American and Indian culture in a way that makes the unknown very accessible. I love that this book is largely centered around food as well, as a significant part of Indian culture is focused on food. The characters are relatable and believable, and Priya's plight is a familiar one, regardless of your heritage. How do I tell my parents about the boy of which they will not approve is a story for the ages, and this one is told well. It's not the greatest literature you'll ever read, but it is a great book to just pick up and enjoy.

This story is full of wonderful, complex familial and relationship issues, all in the clash of western and eastern cultures. At times humorous, at others troubling, the characters express the full range of family relations. Sometimes the writing could have been more polished, but it is still a very entertaining journey.

Exceptionally well written. Author gives an honest, in-depth look at Indian culture and values; in particular where it concerns arranged marriages.

Good reading, I enjoyed it. Who grew up in India and did not like mangoes? If so many things Indian are associated with one thing - why not this celestial fruit. Readers with close ties to India through birth or other wise some how familiar with the culture will enjoy the book. A reader with no exposure to the Indian culture may struggle to understand some of the content, but, if you go to the book with an open mind, you will still walk away with a smile in your heart. After all, there is still the cross-cultural love story aspect pitted against family pressures in the book. Amulya is a simple writer, but, she expresses her feelings with passion and clarity. You can taste the humid heat of India, the smells and visions with her writing. I also enjoyed the creative inclusion of home recipes involving mangoes in the book. Amulya realistically portrays the conflicting emotions, thoughts and actions of an expat going home after a while. Where is home anyway? The classic divided soul living in 2 countries at the same time. Good reading, especially for the homesick expat Indian leaving outside of India.

This novel offers you a wonderful viewpoint of Indian Culture - a peek inside the curtain. It particularly focuses on a traditional mother/ daughter tie and the wonderful, world of womens minds. From a 'familial role' point of view, any woman should be able to find someone in the tale they can relate to and appreciate. It's a gripping read as this young woman emotionally travels through her decisions of how much truth to reveal to her family during a visit to her native home in India from the United States where she has been working and has become engaged secretly. It is hard to put the book down, but don't worry, it is a fast read as well as a fun one. Perfect for a plane trip.

this was a good book to discuss cultural differences and family dynamics.

The brightest element of this work is its evocation of the family tradition of extended female members uniting yearly in the laborious process of making mango pickle. However, I found the characters to be either flat characatures of universal types or unevenly developed.The family "one up-manship" of talent and pride in picking the best mango, in skills related to the process, etc., are the back-biting pecking order innuendos that are perhaps ubiquitous. The mother, however, shows me nothing but rigid thinking. The case isn't clearly made for why this young woman cares so much for her approval or the others' opinions.Good grief, all they do is put our heroine back in the same slot that she occupied in relationship ten years previously when she had left. Also, the central character swings widely from mature and insightful to petty and needy.I'd have been much more interested if the author had developed the character of the subserviant "unmarriageable" cousin, "ugly" and in a vulnerable position, whose role is servant and general stray dog that everyone has tacit permission to kick around.And the coup de grace, the damning period, is the trick ending. good grief. This is closer to Bollywood than any semblance to serious literature.In fact, it isnt literature; it's fiction gussied up because it's from an Indian writer. This one wasn't ready for prime time. I had hoped that the mango itself would become a central metaphor, and that the character would come to a self revelation from the experience, but alas, her inner conflict, for me, is way underdeveloped and poorly explored.

Funny easy to read beach book. Writing style simple for a summer read

A short, rather affecting novel about an Indian girl trying to reconcile her current American life with her loyalty to her Indian family. Priya Rao returns to her native Hyderabad for a vacation after seven years away studying and working in America. Priya is a very successful woman, with a good job in Silicone Valley, and a lovely fiance called Nick, who would tick most mothers' boxes: he's got a good job as an accountant, he's kind and interesting, and he adores Priya. The trouble is, he's not Indian. And Priya knows that if she tells her very traditional Brahmin family about him, they may well cast her off for good? Can she face this, and might her grandfather's statement that 'mixed marriages never work' have any truth in it? Things get worse during Priya's stay, as she realizes both how loyal she still feels to her family, and how much she's moved away from their beliefs since her arrival in the US. And then she gets a really nasty surprise, when her mother announces that they are planning to arrange a marriage for her - immediately! Does she have the courage to tell them about Nick? And what will she tell the (very handsome) man her parents have arranged for her to meet?For the first thirty pages or so, I didn't enjoy this book at all. I found Priya's jaunty tone irritating, and her family rather caricatured - particularly her overweight bad-tempered mother, who was always threatening to beat her. As I read on, however, I found myself getting more involved in the novel. Malludi's language may be a bit clunky at times, and some of the plot seemed unbelievable (would Priya really have avoided her family for seven years, and if she had, wouldn't her return have been less taken for granted?) but she writes fascinatingly about Indian culture, and highlights the plight of women raised in traditional Indian families very well. The treatment of Neelima, Priya's uncle's wife, who is rejected by the family for being from Northern India and for having married for love rather than in an arranged marriage, was harrowing, but very effectively conveyed, as was the story of Sowmya, the plain daughter who still had to find a husband at the age of 30 (her story became distinctly heartwarming). Some of the characters, particularly Priya's patriarchal grandfather, were well depicted (though Priya's mother remained a rather silly creation throughout) and I found myself warming to Priya as the novel went on. There's also some mouthwatering depictions of food!I did wonder at times if Malladi was slanting the novel too much in America's favour, and tending to criticize Indian culture too heavily. This is a novel that presents America very much as 'good' and 'open to anything' and India as 'backward'. I'm sure that a lot of the things that Malladi writes about are true, but I did feel that Priya's absolute acceptance of American culture and lack of criticism of her adopted country (she seemed to feel no unease about the more ruthless aspects of capitalism, for example) was a bit one-dimensional, and that there were aspects of her own culture she might have missed more (apart from the food!). But I haven't visited modern India, so am not really in a position to comment here.All in all, though I didn't enjoy everything about this book, it was an interesting (and very short!) read and makes me want to explore this author's work further. Three and a half stars.

It was okay ,Unfortunately I took to long to read the book although it was short. Definetly, a surprise ending of which I though the family's reaction to a black man could have been explored.

I had to get this after reading "A Breath of Fresh Air" and I was not disappointed with my second book by the author. Very strong characters.

Amulya writes so well,You can experience the book along with the characters and that's what makes a book a wonderful treat.You can feel the heat of India in this ,the colours and dilemas faced by cultural differences.

I am really impressed by this beautiful work of Mrs. Malladi. Each and every character is a candid representation of our day today life people. Author has genuinely portrayed the intricacies of family, cultural dispute between India and America through the character Priya. How Priya has given her strong vibes to even her own family women who are in the clutches of their thatha is vividly depicted. What I really liked is how Priya, a girl of twenty seven has guts to explore her authentic wish of marrying a foreigner to her family; as well as her longing for her own family and at last how she acquired both. Malladi mam hats off for your work!