The Full Moon Bride by Shobhan Bantwal

Full Moon Bride by Shobhan Bantwal was the first Indian-culture book I have read, and I was fascinated by it. The heroine is Soorya Giri, a thirty-year old environmental lawyer who lives in New Jersey with her parents and grandmother––who desperately want her to be married. Arranged marriages are the norm in the Indian culture, but Soorya is appalled by them. Living in America, she has seen how other couples marry for love and not just tradition, and she wants the same for herself. When Soorya is introduced to Roger Vadepalli, she doesn’t want to like him. He is arrogant and egotistical, but at the same time quite charming and intelligent, with dreams outside his tradition as well. But there is also Lou, a colleague who her family will not approve of, but who seems to enjoy Soorya’s company as well. As Soorya faces these decisions, she realizes what it means to be independent from her family and how to finally find what is right for her.
First off, I think the cover is exquisite. Second, like I mentioned above, this was my first time trying out a book with an Indian heroine, and I would like to think I learned a lot from it. From the culture, traditions, food, roles of men and women, etc., there is a lot to take in. I thought Soorya was a fine heroine, someone who has obviously been very sheltered along her life by her family. Even though she was somewhat hesitant about certain topics, she was still a strong and smart character, and I enjoyed reading her story. Sometimes things did seem a bit old-school to me: Soorya being a thirty-year old virgin who absolutely cringes at the thought of sex, and the fact that she thought she couldn’t flirt with Lou because he was black––but those were smaller details to me. The story as a whole was a welcome one, and I would recommend this book, especially if you have an interest in the Indian culture.
[Rating: 4]