The Vine of Desire

The Vine of Desire
Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Publisher: Anchor
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2003-02-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 038549730X

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

Sister of My Heart

Sister of My Heart
Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Publisher: Anchor
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2009-09-15
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0307476790

From the award-winning author of Mistress of Spices, the bestselling novel about the extraordinary bond between two women, and the family secrets and romantic jealousies that threaten to tear them apart. Anju is the daughter of an upper-caste Calcutta family of distinction. Her cousin Sudha is the daughter of the black sheep of that same family. Sudha is startlingly beautiful; Anju is not. Despite those differences, since the day on which the two girls were born, the same day their fathers died--mysteriously and violently--Sudha and Anju have been sisters of the heart. Bonded in ways even their mothers cannot comprehend, the two girls grow into womanhood as if their fates as well as their hearts were merged. But, when Sudha learns a dark family secret, that connection is shattered. For the first time in their lives, the girls know what it is to feel suspicion and distrust. Urged into arranged marriages, Sudha and Anju's lives take opposite turns. Sudha becomes the dutiful daughter-in-law of a rigid small-town household. Anju goes to America with her new husband and learns to live her own life of secrets. When tragedy strikes each of them, however, they discover that despite distance and marriage, they have only each other to turn to. Set in the two worlds of San Francisco and India, this exceptionally moving novel tells a story at once familiar and exotic, seducing readers from the first page with the lush prose we have come to expect from Divakaruni. Sister of My Heart is a novel destined to become as widely beloved as it is acclaimed.

The Tree and the Vine

The Tree and the Vine
Author: Dola De Jong
Publisher: Feminist Press at CUNY
Total Pages: 210
Release: 1996
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9781558611412

A lesbian love story set during the Nazi occupation in Holland.

Queen of Dreams

Queen of Dreams
Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Publisher: Anchor
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2005-10-11
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1400030447

From the bestselling author of Sister of My Heart comes a spellbinding tale of mothers and daughters, love and cultural identity. Rakhi, a young painter and single mother, is struggling to come to terms with her relationship with ex-husband Sonny, a hip Bay Area DJ, and with her dream-teller mother, who has rarely spoken about her past or her native India. Rakhi has her hands full, juggling a creative dry spell, raising her daughter, and trying to save the Berkeley teahouse she and her best friend Belle own. But greater challenges are to come. When a national tragedy turns her world upside down and Rakhi needs her mother’s strength and wisdom more than ever, she loses her in a freak car accident. But uncovering her mother’s dream journals allows Rakhi to discover her mother’s long-kept secrets and sacrifices–and ultimately to confront her fears, forge a new relationship with her father, and revisit Sonny’s place in her heart.

Fruit of the Vine

Fruit of the Vine
Author: Ellen Weisberg
Publisher: Chipmunkapublishing ltd
Total Pages: 25
Release: 2011-06-01
Genre: Art
ISBN: 184991124X

DescriptionIn "Fruit of the Vine," we meet Justin, a sensitive, introspective boy whose physical features and personality make him a convenient target for many of his cruel peers. One night, he wakes to find himself on a mysterious island, which is inhabited by a horde of bizarre creatures. Despite his desperation to find out where he is and, more importantly, how to get home, he becomes involved in the plight of Irvino, a beast who is ostracized on this island much in the way that Justin is in his own world. The story ends with a twist as Justin, in helping Irvino, ends up helping himself by making a lifelong friend out of Irvino. In essence, the protagonist of ""Fruit of the Vine"" saves himself by saving his savior, but not in typical fashion. "Fruit of the Vine" is unique from other books in the fantasy genre in that it is meant not only for the grade school-aged fantasy reader, but also for anyone interested in the topic of bullies, and how altruistic qualities can develop in children. About the AuthorEllen Weisberg, 43, is a research scientist working in the field of leukemia. Her literary publications include the young adult novel, "Gathering Roses" (Chipmunkapublishing, 2007 Ellen has also co-authored and illustrated several children's geography books in collaboration with her husband, Ken Yoffe, 42, a pediatrician. Their geography series includes "All Across Canada" (Chipmunkapublishing, 2008), and "All Across China" (Chipmunkapublishing, 2009). Ellen and Ken are members of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). They and their daughter, Emily, live in Nashua, NH.

The Mistress of Spices

The Mistress of Spices
Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Publisher: Anchor
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2009-09-15
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0307476774

A classic work of magical realism, this bestselling novel by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni tells the story of Tilo, a young woman from another time who has a gift for the mystical art of spices. Now immortal, and living in the gnarled and arthritic body of an old woman, Tilo has set up shop in Oakland, California, where she administers curatives to her customers. But when she's surprised by an unexpected romance with a handsome stranger, she must choose between everlasting life and the vicissitudes of modern society. Spellbinding and hypnotizing, The Mistress of Spices is a tale of joy, sorrow, and one special woman's magical powers.

Before We Visit the Goddess

Before We Visit the Goddess
Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2017-04-25
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1476792011

"A new novel from the author of Oleander Girl, a novel in stories, built around crucial moments in the lives of 3 generations of women in an Indian/Indian-American Family"--

One Amazing Thing

One Amazing Thing
Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Publisher: Hachette Books
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2010-02-02
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1401394957

An acclaimed novel by the author of The Mistress of Spices, and Before We Visit the Goddess. Jhumpa Lahiri praises: "One Amazing Thing collapses the walls dividing characters and cultures; what endures is a chorus of voices in one single room." Late afternoon sun sneaks through the windows of a passport and visa office in an unnamed American city. Most customers and even most office workers have come and gone, but nine people remain. A punky teenager with an unexpected gift. An upper-class Caucasian couple whose relationship is disintegrating. A young Muslim-American man struggling with the fallout of 9/11. A graduate student haunted by a question about love. An African-American ex-soldier searching for redemption. A Chinese grandmother with a secret past. And two visa office workers on the verge of an adulterous affair. When an earthquake rips through the afternoon lull, trapping these nine characters together, their focus first jolts to their collective struggle to survive. There's little food. The office begins to flood. Then, at a moment when the psychological and emotional stress seems nearly too much for them to bear, the young graduate student suggests that each tell a personal tale, "one amazing thing" from their lives, which they have never told anyone before. And as their surprising stories of romance, marriage, family, political upheaval, and self-discovery unfold against the urgency of their life-or-death circumstances, the novel proves the transcendent power of stories and the meaningfulness of human expression itself. From Chitra Divakaruni, author of such finely wrought, bestselling novels as Sister of My Heart, The Palace of Illusions, and The Mistress of Spices, comes her most compelling and transporting story to date. One Amazing Thing is a passionate creation about survival -- and about the reasons to survive.

Life on the Vine

Life on the Vine
Author: Philip D. Kenneson
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 252
Release: 1999-10-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780830822195

Philip Kenneson digs into the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23, combining rich, theologically grounded reflection on Christian life and practice with analysis of contemporary culture. He explores what each fruit means in its biblical context, then investigates how key traits of late modern Western culture inhibit the development and ripening of each fruit.