Book Review: No One Can Pronounce My Name by Rakesh Satyal
No One Can Pronounce My Name by Rakesh Satyal
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
In a suburb outside Cleveland, a community of Indian Americans has settled into lives that straddle the divide between Eastern and Western cultures. For some, America is a bewildering and alienating place where coworkers can’t pronounce your name but will eagerly repeat the Sanskrit phrases from their yoga class. Harit, a lonely Indian immigrant in his mid forties, lives with his mother who can no longer function after the death of Harit’s sister, Swati. In a misguided attempt to keep both himself and his mother sane, Harit has taken to dressing up in a sari every night to pass himself off as his sister. Meanwhile, Ranjana, also an Indian immigrant in her mid forties, has just seen her only child, Prashant, off to college. Worried that her husband has begun an affair, she seeks solace by writing paranormal romances in secret. When Harit and Ranjana’s paths cross, they begin a strange yet necessary friendship that brings to light their own passions and fears.
No One Can Pronounce My Name is the story of Indian immigrants Ranjana and Harit. Ranjana’s only son is starting college and she and her husband are trying to adjust to life as empty-nesters. Harit works in a department store and lives with his mother. His sister lived with them until she passed away recently.
Ranjana and Harit both have secrets. Ranjana writes paranormal romance at night after work. Harit dresses up as his dead sister at night because he thinks it’s helping his poor-sighted mother who hasn’t accepted that her daughter has died. It’s hard to imagine how their lives could possibly intersect, but they do. Even though their lives are vastly different, they start a friendship because they both feel like outsiders in the Indian community.
I loved all of the characters in this book. Yes, they all had flaws but Satyal gives them so much depth that I felt empathy for each one of them.
An excerpt of the paranormal romance Ranjana is writing is included as part of the story. It was so good – I wish it was a real book! Maybe Satyal could actually write Ranjana’s book as a companion to No One Can Pronounce My Name like Rainbow Rowell wrote Carry On after everyone loved the excerpts in Fan Girl.
No One Can Pronounce My Name is a great addition to my ever expanding library of books about India and/or Indians. From the other reviews I’ve read, it seems that the author’s portrayal of the Indian immigrant experience is spot-on. Now I’d like to read Rakesh Satyal’s other books. I definitely recommend this one.
