One Amazing Thing

December 21, 2009
In a soggy treatment of catastrophe and enlightenment, Divakaruni (The Mistress of Spices
) traps a group of nine diverse people in the basement of an Indian consulate in an unidentified American city after an earthquake. Two are émigrés who work for the consulate; the others are in the building to apply for visas. With very little food, rising flood water, dwindling oxygen, and no electricity or phone service, the victims fend off panic by taking turns at sharing the central stories of their lives. Oddly, the group spends little time brainstorming ways to escape, even when they run out of food and water, and sections of ceiling collapse around them. They wait in fatalistic resignation and tell their tales. Some are fable-like, with captivating scene-setting and rush-to-moral conclusions, but the most powerful are intimate, such as the revelations an accountant shares about his impoverished childhood with an exhausted mother, her boyfriend, and a beloved kitten. Despite moments of brilliance, this uneven novel, while vigorously plumbing themes of class struggle, disillusionment, and guilt, disappoints with careless and unearned epiphanies.

Starred review from February 15, 2010
Nine people of diverse backgrounds trapped by an earthquake in the basement of the Indian consulate in an unidentified American citythat's the situation Divakaruni ("The Palace of Illusions") sets for herself here. The thoroughly American Uma immigrated with her parents as an infant and is now a graduate student. She tries to concentrate on reading Chaucer while waiting to apply for a visa to visit her parents, who have moved back to India, but spends more time speculating about the people around her. When the earthquake hits, African American army veteran Cameron takes charge, while Uma encourages each of these modern-day pilgrims to share a story of "one amazing thing." The pilgrims range from a young Muslim man hoping that he can visit his parents' ancestral home to an upper-class Caucasian couple planning a trip to the Taj Mahal. As the stories unfold, they tell as much about the diversity of Indian culture as they do about the American "melting pot," which lets some groups Americanize more successfully than others. VERDICT Writing with great sensitivity, Divarkaruni presents snapshots that speak volumes about the characters, so unexpectedly drawn together. Highly recommended.Debbie Bogenschutz, Cincinnati State Technical & Community Coll.

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2010
A diverse group trapped in the aftermath of a disaster shares tales of love, loss and desire.

Divakaruni's latest (The Palace of Illusions, 2008, etc.) harkens back to her earlier collections of short stories more than it coalesces as a convincing novel. Seven visa applicants wait for the services of two bureaucrats in the basement-level visa office of an Indian consulate somewhere in America."It was not uncommon, in this city, to find persons of different races thrown together," Divakaruni writes."Still, Uma thought, it was like a mini UN summit in here. Whatever were all these people planning to do in India?" Suddenly, a massive earthquake strikes, trapping them in the dark and forcing them to confront each other. An angry young man named Tariq Husein seethes as Cameron Grant, an African-American veteran, assumes leadership of the trapped group. Mr. Pritchett, who had hoped a trip to India would lift his wife's depression, endangers them all by trying to light a cigarette despite a gas leak. Malathi, a clerk at the consulate, stands up to him when he takes away Mrs. Pritchett's medication. Jiang, an elderly Chinese woman injured in the quake, tries to protect her granddaughter Lily. In the midst of their ordeal, Uma, a grad student first glimpsed reading"The Wife of Bath's Tale," comes up with the idea of having each person relate an incident from his or her life."Everyone has a story," she says."I don't believe anyone can go through life without encountering at least one amazing thing." The individual tales are engaging, but the mechanical setup and the lack of resolution in the primary narrative make it difficult to fully embrace all that follows.

Compassionate stories, many of them inspired, suspended in half of a novel.

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January 1, 2010
After the glorious complexity of The Palace of Illusions (2008), Divakaruni, who also writes for young readers, presents a wise and beautifully refined drama. When an earthquake hits, nine men and women of diverse ages and backgrounds are trapped in an Indian consulate. Cameron, an African American Vietnam vet, takes charge, striving to keep them safe. College student Uma, who brought along The Canterbury Tales to read while waiting for clerk Malathi and her boss Mangalam to process her papers, suggests that they each tell an important story from their lives. Their tales of heartbreak and revelation are nuanced and riveting as Divakaruni takes fresh measure of the transcendent power of stories and the pilgrimage tradition. True, the nine, including an older couple, a young Muslim man, and a Chinese Indian grandmother and her granddaughter, are captives of a disaster, but they are also pilgrims of the spirit, seeking one amazing thing affirming that life, for all its pain, is miraculous. A storyteller of exquisite lyricism and compassion, Divakaruni weaves a suspenseful, astute, and unforgettable survivors tale.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)