Bindi

June 18, 2018
Maisano’s poignant debut follows eight-year-old Birendra’s quest for family after his mother’s death in 1993 replaces a stable childhood with an overwhelming loss. The boy yearns to contact his Aunt Nayana and Uncle Ramesh, who live in West London, a vast distance from his Kerala home. The letter containing the news doesn’t reach his family before Birendra is taken to an orphanage to work for his board. In London, Nayana grapples with being pregnant and consumed by worry she will again miscarry, and doesn’t initially dwell on not hearing from her twin sister. Meanwhile, Madeline, a 39-year-old single woman from Los Angeles, travels to India to find meaning in her life. While there, Madeline adopts Birendra and names him Bindi, even though the orphanage director is aware of the possible existence of his London family. Back in L.A., Madeline’s brother, Edward, is taken with his new nephew, yet he feels compelled to learn more about Bindi’s hidden Indian family, which unites the narrative’s threads. Maisano’s novel effectively captures the settings across the globe and creates a realistic and imperfect family, movingly demonstrating how a combination of chance, persistence, and love creates lasting ties.

June 15, 2018
In this debut novel, a wealthy American woman adopts an orphaned Indian boy to alleviate her sorrows.In Varkala, a coastal village in southern India, 8-year-old Birendra's beloved mother and only living parent suddenly dies. At the urging of the Nairs, his elderly neighbors, Birendra drafts a letter to his aunt and uncle in West London, with the hope they'll come for him. When 15 days of mourning pass with no return letter, the Nairs drop Birendra off at an orphanage in Trivandrum, the state capital of Kerala. It is here where 39-year-old Madeline, an American interior decorator to the stars, takes a detour from her relaxing seaside resort to a local orphanage in an attempt to heal her heartache by becoming a mother. When she meets Birendra, she's smitten and promptly adopts him. But Madeline spends more time contemplating throw pillows for her affluent Southern California clientele than parenting her new son, whom she calls "Bindi," a name she deems easier to pronounce. At Bindi's Bollywood-themed ninth birthday party, Edward, Madeline's brother, is alarmed by his sister's narcissism. "He had to admit: this was a party Maddy had thrown for herself. To show off the beautiful boy she'd 'saved.' " If Maisano's intent was to interrogate the fraught process of international adoption, the book falters. Aside from Birendra's aunt, the luminous Nayana, few characters have depth. The exceedingly obedient Birendra stoically accepts his circumstances. Madeline's fantasies about motherhood via overseas adoption seem outlandish, even for the Angelina Jolies of Tinseltown. A more sympathetic and familiar adoptive parent would have done far more to drive home the author's point. Edward may possess the conscience his sister lacks, but like Madeline, he, too, embodies the stereotypical savior. What's missing here is a more scrupulous study of the role of privilege in international adoption and a rigorous examination of the American colonization of brown children, cultural erasure, and appropriation.Well-intentioned but imperfectly executed.

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July 1, 2018
Maisano's intriguing debut novel is about the adoption of a young Indian boy, Birendra, by American Mama Maddy. A missed letter to his aunt in London leads to his being placed in an orphanage while he awaits his family, and Madeline finds him there at a point in her life where she sees him as her path forward. His aunt Nayana and Madeline's brother, Eddie, are the other key characters who move the story along from their perspectives. Covering ground between Kerala, in India, West London, and Los Angeles, Maisano boldly crosses cultural boundaries with a sure touch and empathetic style. There is a stark authenticity here that delves deeply into all the vulnerabilities of a child seeking a home while capturing the dilemmas of adults facing choices that offer no clarity. Overcoming the damage done by terrible parenting, infidelity, and the quest for validation are but some of the themes in this story, which is essentially about good people coming to terms with the many dimensions of life and love, acceptance and peace.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)