before we visit the goddess
A beautiful, “deeply affecting” (Kirkus Reviews) novel from the bestselling, award-winning author of Sister of My Heart and The Mistress of Spices about three generations of mothers and daughters who must discover their greatest source of strength in one another.
Sweeping across the twentieth century, from the countryside of Bengal, India, to the streets of Houston, Texas, Before We Visit the Goddess takes readers on an extraordinary journey through the lives of three unforgettable women: Sabitri, Bela, and Tara. As the young daughter of a poor rural sweetmaker, Sabitri yearns to get an education, but schooling is impossible on the meager profits from her mother’s income. Then a powerful woman takes Sabitri under her wing, but her generous offer proves dangerous after Sabitri makes a single, unforgiveable mistake. Years later, Sabitri’s own daughter, Bela, haunted by her mother’s choices, flees to America with her political refugee lover—but the world she finds is vastly different from her dreams. As the marriage crumbles and Bela decides to forge her own path, she unwittingly teaches her little girl, Tara, indelible lessons about freedom and loyalty that will take a lifetime to unravel.
Told through a sparkling symphony of voices—those of the women themselves and the men who loved them—Before We Visit the Goddess captures the gorgeous complexity of these multi-generational and transcontinental relationships, showing the deep threads of love and hope and bravery that define a family and a life. This is a “gracefully insightful, dazzlingly descriptive, and covertly stinging tale [that] illuminates the opposition women must confront, generation by generation, as they seek both independence and connection” (Booklist, starred review).
In her latest novel, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni explores the relationships between mothers and daughters, and the different kinds of love that bind us across generations. Before We Visit the Goddess captures the gorgeous complexity of these multi-generational and transcontinental bonds, sweeping across the twentieth century from the countryside of Bengal, India, to the streets of Houston, Texas—an extraordinary journey told through a sparkling symphony of male and female voices.
READ an excerpt.
BOOK CLUBS: A Reading Guide is available here. Chitra is available to do online/video chats with book clubs as time permits. Please email her at chitra.divakaruni.list@gmail.com.
Praise for BEFORE WE VISIT THE GODDESS
"Tender, bittersweet, beautifully wrought tales about love and longing, exile and loneliness." -- Amitabh Ghosh, author of The Glass Palace and Sea of Poppies.
"I will never forget Sabitri, Bela, and Tara: grandmother, mother, and daughter after my own heart. A lovely book." -- Maxine Hong Kingston, author of The Woman Warrior and China Men.
"Balances the ache of separation with the thrills of independence and self-discovery. . . .[Divakaruni's] characteristic passion, nerve and insight into the troubled soul are here in full. ” — The Wall Street Journal
“Before We Visit the Goddess is universal—a story of mothers and daughters, misunderstanding and sacrifice, success and independence. . . . [A] sweet, piercing blend that—like sugar, fruit and saffron—forms a dazzling, memorable novel.” —Houston Chronicle
“ The always enchanting and enlightening Divakaruni spins another silken yet tensile saga about the lives of women in India and as immigrants in America…Divakaruni’s gracefully insightful, dazzlingly descriptive, and covertly stinging tale illuminates the opposition women must confront, generation by generation, as they seek both independence and connection. ” — Booklist Starred Review
“An heirloom tapestry.” —Miami Herald
