The Journey

May 14, 2001
In a nation of immigrants, the story of arrival and adjustment is a perennial fictional favorite. Fewer writers address going home again, but Ganesan's delicately constructed first novel originally published 11 years ago by Knopf and now out of print, but to be reissued (after Inheritance) just in time to take a turn under the Indian fiction spotlight does. It follows 19-year-old Renu Krishnan, her mother and her 15-year-old sister, Manx, as they return to their family home on fictional Prospero's Island, or Pi, in the Bay of Bengal. It is 1980, and the Krishnans, who have been living on Long Island for the past nine years, are returning to Pi because Renu's cousin Rajesh has drowned. Conceived on the same day as Renu (even born on the same day), Rajesh is considered to be her twin; according to village lore, if he dies by water, she should die by fire. In Ganesan's scheme, Rajesh also seems to be Renu's doppelg nger: he remained at home while she and her family settled in the United States, and his death marking the death of her childhood and perhaps even the death of the Hindi in her provokes a crisis in Renu's life. Other characters also make journeys: Renu's mother, her aunt, her sister, her grandfather. Ganesan relates the complex stories of several striking characters and examines many of the ironies of cross-cultural life in the United States and especially back home on Pi. But this complexity comes at a cost. Despite her turmoil, Renu remains obscure, difficult to picture and understand, as do many of the other characters. Readers who need to know a character thoroughly to love a book will find this novel frustrating, but those interested in a subtle sometimes touching, sometimes comedic tale of our nomadic, crossbred lives will be happy it is now available in paperback.

June 5, 1990
This promising though uneven first novel maps the voyage--actual and spiritual--of shy Renu Krishnan, 19, from America to her birthplace, the fictitious island of Pi (for Prospero's Island) off India's coast. With her mother and sister, Renu returns for the funeral of her adored cousin Rajesh, called her twin since they were born the same day. Renu's grief is compounded by rude shocks: local superstition has it that she will soon die by fire (since her ``twin'' drowned), and now her mother presses her to yield to a traditionally arranged marriage. Tension slackens as the narrative shifts away from Renu, who grows increasingly passive, fragile and withdrawn. Various family members are depicted in vignettes--Renu's lively, liberated sister Manx, who dates wayward Freddie, an American expatriate; their grandfather who makes a pilgrimage alone; their clownish Uncle Adda and his tragic Spanish wife. While the charm of the writing and observations about East and West engage the reader, Renu's story drifts into an arbitrary half-resolution. The author, born in India, lives in Princeton, N.J.

May 15, 1990
Ganesan has produced quite a jewel in this first novel. The Krishnan family, mother and two daughters, return to their native Pi, an island off the coast of India, for a family funeral. The girls, 19-year-old Renu and 15-year-old Manx, were born on the island but have been living for the past ten years in the United States, where their parents pursued scientific careers. Renu is quite willing to go back to traditional ways while she mourns her cousin, but Manx is thoroughly American and is as confused by the actions of her sister as by those of the older relatives. Ganesan warmly portrays these cultural differences and offers surprising insights into the bravery of the girl's mother, who left behind all that she knew for a strange world in America. Recommended.-- Debbie Tucker, Cincinnati Technical Coll., Ohio

Copyright 1990 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.