Flame Tree Road

May 15, 2015

Patel's (Teatime for the Firefly) latest historical opens in a small riverside village in 1870s India, where caste and tradition determine one's lot in life. When young Biren Roy's mother suffers the worst possible fate for a woman, widowhood, Biren swears he will become a lawyer and fight for women's rights in India. Eventually, he becomes the focused lawyer he set out to be, full of hope and determination, but Biren faces a whole new set of challenges fighting the barriers of India's history and tradition. Achieving his dream seems hopeless until he meets the passionate Maya. Armed with new hope because of her, Biren must find a balance between heritage and progress to attain his goals. VERDICT Tradition and setting dominate this story of passion, politics, and love. The Indian countryside and village life play a big role, and the slow pace of writing matches the pace of change in India. Beautifully written, this novel is sure to please fans of Khaled Hosseini and Jhumpa Lahiri.--Kristen Calvert Nelson, Marion Cty. P.L. Syst., Ocala, FL

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2015
After his father dies, a clever young Indian boy watches as his mother is shunned by their family and society, so when he's offered an education through his father's company, he jumps at the chance, then tries to change the plight of women in his country. Even as a young boy in 1870s India, Biren Roy understood his father to be honorable and wise, and he knew his parents' loving, respectful relationship was uncommon. When his father stays late one night at his factory job and meets a tragic death, Biren's world changes in ways he couldn't have fathomed. The English factory manager, who truly admired Shamol Roy, honors the man's desire to see his two sons educated. Sent almost immediately to boarding school, Biren barely has the chance to mourn his father, but he does have the opportunity to see his mother forced out of their home and into the woodshed, a scorned, "cursed" widow. As he pursues his education, both in India and then at Cambridge, Biren decides to study law, with plans to return home and promote the education and rights of women since he knows firsthand how tragically women are treated. Back in India, Biren falls into a government job that allows him to mediate issues that British bureaucrats can't solve, earning him respect among the English and mixed feelings from his countrymen. As his professional star rises, he must make haunting personal choices. Patel follows up her 2013 debut, Teatime for the Firefly, with this soulful prequel that offers compelling and devastating details of life in India set against the estimable Biren's life. Sometimes choppy and disjointed, the story covers a large timeline and rushes through some of it, often using an almost dreamlike omniscient narrative style; however, the backdrop of the novel is Biren's India, so a variety of lenses and perspectives that reflect the tumult of the times somehow works. A lightly flawed but still mesmerizing look at a complex society in flux and one man's attempts to effect change.

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Starred review from May 15, 2015
Indian custom dictates that, after her husband's untimely death, Shibani Roy cut off all ties with her family and friends and live in complete poverty. When Biren Roy sees the suffering his mother must endure, he realizes that it is time to take action. Biren knows that advancing the rights of women in India, including the right to an education, will not be easy. First, he must complete his own education, which begins in a small village school and ends in college in Cambridge, England. Biren returns to India with his law degree determined to change the system, only to find that centuries of social traditions and rules can't be reversed overnight. Just when Biren is about to give up, he meets Maya Nandi, and his love for this remarkable woman inspires him to pursue his dreams. In her latest gracefully written novel, Patel (Teatime for the Firefly, 2013) skillfully uses the culture and customs of late-nineteenth- and early twentieth-century India as a fascinating framework for an unforgettable story of love and loss, hope and change, family and friendship that will stay with readers long after they turn the last page.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)