Sister of My Heart

A Novel

By: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Narrated by: Julia Whelan

Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

From the award-winning author of Mistress of Spices, the best-selling 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 listeners from the first minute 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.

©1999 Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (P)2012 Tantor

Critic reviews

"An inspired and imaginative raconteur, Divakaruni is sure to engender comparisons with Arundhati Roy ( The God of Small Things), but Divakaruni's novel stands in its own right as a compelling read." ( Publishers Weekly)

I Love the bond between the two main characters!!!

I loved the story overall. I enjoyed the relationship between the two cousins/sisters and the stories that began in their childhood and progressed into their adult lives. I listened to this book in one week because I kept listening whenever I had a chance. At times I was saying out loud to the characters “yes!!”” Or “noooo!!!” “GOOD for you!” I got invested in their decisions! Thats the sign of a good book in my opinion! I cared about them and what happened with them both! I also enjoy all the descriptions of their lives growing up in India and the stories, practices and beliefs that were/are common in India some decades ago. I enjoyed the performer’s work as well. She read with such emotion when appropriate and changed her voice to help listeners follow who was talking. I highly recommend this book!!!

SISTER OF MY HEART - WONDERFUL BOOK

If you could sum up Sister of My Heart in three words, what would they be?

Exceptionally moving and a passionate novel about the bond between two women, and the jealousies, loves, and family histories that threaten to tear them apart. I could not stop listening.

Have you listened to any of Julia Whelan’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I love all the books that Julia Whelan narrates. That is how i found Sister of my heart.

Slow start

Characters were likable and fairly well developed. Although the ending was not a surprise it was well-done. Some parts moved slowly and others I wish were longer.

Loved it

This story is beautifully told and hard to put down. Excellent. I highly recommend it.

A Story Betrayed in the Telling

The nararator insulted the author, embarrassed hetself, disrespected the reader. I ground my teeth with the horrible, continual mispronunciations of EVERY Indian language name, word, and phrase. I was constantly tense so that the great writing was difficult to attend to as in other books by this author. Disappointment! Get a native reader NOWand re-record tgis classic.

3 1/2 Stars wrong choice narrator

Story was concept overall good, but not the best. I had wished the author would tell me what year the story was taking place as it jumped around decades. Couldn’t figure out that we were in the 1980s until chapter 5. And it jumps around from when the two girls were infants, that got confusing. Narrator was WRONG choice for this Indian book. Would have enjoyed it if narrator was really from India. The two girls/ two main characters had same baby voice, annoying. Was so hard for me to grasp the story because I was so distracted by narrator. Realistically, do men go off in a fatal journey to find one ruby each in the late 1960’s? I had to rewind parts over and over. Baby voices should not be used the whole story.

Wonderful Book

Loved the story. Loved the performance. Perhaps the native words could have been spoken by a native speaker.

Amazing story and performance

Thank you so much for this amazing book.

The book was woven with Chitra Banerjees usual unfailing, understanding of the human heart and she has again created real and complex characters.
The protagonists are utterly real to me, as if they are people I’ve known and my heart opened and closed throughout the book with their joys and sorrows as they came.
I love her understanding of the human condition with her focus on what women, even today, endure.

Read this book! You won’t regret it

WOW!

This was a truly beautiful book. Yes, you need and want to listen to this audible book.

Best story ever

This author is amazing. Two books I’ve ‘read’ so far by the author and I’ve really enjoyed them both.