Of Marriageable Age (Paperback)

Three children, two countries, three stories, three different decades - separate, yet cohesively bonded into one epic saga.

Nataraj (Nat), plucked from an orphanage in India by a white doctor, is given the chance to receive a good education, and quickly discovers within himself the power of healing.

Sarojini (Saroj) lives a comfortable life in British Guiana, until she encounters racism and hatred, and repeatedly defies her ethnically blinkered father, having recognized inner beauty in other people despite external appearances.

Savitri is a cook's daughter from Madras, the central character of the book, who despite her strict Indian family, manages to tie herself to the white family who employs her father, leading to a heart-rending sequence of unfortunate events.

Flitting like a butterfly between the three stories, the author explores deep, dark issues of humanity, but these are not permitted to consume the story, as they are beautifully counterbalanced by love and respect, by breathtakingly descriptive passages and exotic settings.

It's a period piece, a geography lesson, a mystery, a tragedy, a drama, a soap opera, but most of all a love story, not only for the central characters, but for the author to pay tribute to two countries that have made their mark in her heart.

If you like sweet, sappy love stories, or rich Indian culture and tradition, or even if you just liked the movie "Monsoon Wedding", this book is highly recommended for you.

Amanda R.

This is the story of Savitri, a native of India, a Brahmin beauty, a healer, who fell in love with David, the son of the wealthy English family for whom she and her parents worked. Her love for David would remain constant, despite those in her own family who would seek to destroy it.

This is the story of David, the English boy who grew up in British colonial India and never forgot his childhood sweetheart, despite the cultural and racial roadblocks placed in his path by those who did not have the gift to look into the soul of another.

This is the story of Nat, the boy who straddled two cultures, Indian and English, whose mysterious ancestry threatened to prevent him from being united with the woman who held the key to his heart and soul.

This is the story of Saroj, a Guyanese beauty of Indian descent, who wanted to leave the old ways, the ways of mysterious south east Asia, the ways of India, and embrace those of the west, only to find that her soul mate was one in whom both cultures had made peace.

This is, above all else, a spellbinding story of love and passion that runs so deep that time would sustain it forever. Underlying this story are the threads of a mystery that are subtly woven into its fabric. This novel is a panoramic and sweeping saga that will cause the reader to be swept away by its depth, its richness of language, and its vivdly drawn characters, and descriptive detail. The author, a very gifted writer and talented storyteller, has written a novel that will keep the reader riveted to its pages until the very last.

Let me mention before going further that this book contains many scenes of intense inhumanity that will disturb you. For the most part, these scenes are played as tamely as possible without losing their significance. Nevertheless, this is not a garden and flowers romance novel, in the usual sense that most readers think about novels that deal with love and marriage.

The book builds its structure around three separate timelines that begin in different places tied to the three primary characters, two in the state of Madras in India (one in 1921 and the other in 1947) and the third in British Guiana in 1956. As time passes, you begin to notice bits and pieces of the other two story lines crossing over into each one, helping you anticipate a greater joining of all three in the end. A few things won't quite make sense along the way. Pay particular attention to those, for they are clues to parts of the story that will remain below the surface until near the end of the book.

All three characters are Indians by cultural background. Savitri is the cook's young daughter in an English household in Madras who keeps company with the English family's son. The English family is enlightened for that day and age, and encourage the children to be together. They grow up like brother and sister in many ways.

Nat begins in an orphanage in Madras until he is miraculously adopted by a single English doctor who serves the poor for no fee, and is raised as though he is the doctor's own son in a poor village.

Saroj is a young teenager in an Indian family in South America whose prominent lawyer father is most eager to arrange her marriage. Saroj doesn't like the idea at all, and is soon in full rebellion. She gains sustenance for her rebellion from a black friend and her friend's very liberated mother.

One of the remarkable things about this novel is that the book intensely and fully develops all three main characters, plus gives you quite full development on three others. Compare that to Madame Bovary, for example, where only Emma Bovary's character is fully established. Ms. Maas is quite inventive and broad in her methods for character development, being equally comfortable with dialogue, letters, actions, internalized thoughts, and physical changes in the body.

The story is woven mostly out of everyday events, much like normal life is. Although there are dramatic events occurring in the background (like World War II and eventual Indian independence), mostly the relationships within each family and neighborhood frame the story's action.

I was especially impressed with the handling of the book's various mysteries. Most books give you the barest minimum of one clue to open the door to filling in the blank spaces. Ms. Maas is very generous with her clues, yet keeps her mysteries adequately hidden . . . just around the corner. Only by connecting a rather broad set of dots can you see the whole picture before she is ready to expose it to you. I enjoyed unraveling the mysteries.

Finally, the book does a nice job of applying Indian philosophy to the circumstances that occur in the novel, so that you can see how the philosophy affects one's perception of oneself, as well as one's own behavior. In the contrast with the Western cultural standards (or lack thereof in some cases), the Indian view looks remarkably noble and practical at the same time.

After you finish reading this story, I suggest that you think about what purposes human freedom should serve. What is the cost of providing human freedom that serves no noble purpose? How do the benefits compare to the costs?

Look beyond what you think you want to appreciate the beauty and truth within you!