Gifted: A Novel

By Nikita Lalwani

A dazzling first novel about a math prodigy who is being groomed by her parents to attend Oxford at the age of fourteen, Gifted heralds the arrival of a remarkable new talent.

Numbers have filled Rumi Vashey’s world since she first learned to count. But it was on a trip to India at the age of eight that her mathematical powers acquired their almost supernatural significance.

At fourteen Rumi is firmly set on the path of a gifted child, speeding headlong towards Oxford University. As her father sees it, discipline is everything if the family is to have any hope of making its mark on its adoptive country. However, as Rumi gets older and the family’s stark isolation intensifies, numbers start to lose their magic for the young teenager: she abandons the rigid timetable of her afternoons and replaces equations with rampant spice abuse. As her longing for love and her parents’ will to succeed deepen so too does the rift between generations.

Gifted captures brilliantly the battle to come of age in an emotional and comic hinterland, where histories, arithmetic and cumin seeds all play a part. In a voice that is by turns very funny and fiercely acute Lalwani vividly brings to life a young family’s search for recognition and how that search can break a family apart. A story of high aspirations and deep desires, and of the sometime loneliness of childhood, Gifted is a remarkably passionate, assured and accessible debut.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: May 29, 2009
• ISBN: 9780307371973

Reviews for Gifted

[mooingzelda · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Gifted tells the story of Rumi, the daughter of Indian immigrants to Britain and a young maths prodigy who ends up going to Oxford at the age of 15, towards the end of the 1980s. The novel is a coming of age tale that also looks at the experience of being first and second generation immigrants, with some sections told from the POV of Rumi's parents.I really enjoyed the novel at first, especially as I found Rumi to be very relatable. I was never any kind of prodigy, but I have Indian immigrant parents who came over in the early 80s and so I could identify with a lot of the parts examining the immigrant experience. I also found myself nodding at the parts detailing the extra awkwardness of going through the emotional turmoil of puberty while dealing with the trauma of trying to fit into a culture that your family isn't fully assimilated into.However, I became slightly less enamoured with the novel in later sections. I'm not sure how much the reader is really allowed to get inside the heads of the Vasi family, which means it's difficult to get a sense of any real character development. I was also slightly frustrated with the ending and the epilogue - it's all a bit abrupt and I think more could have been made of it. As an aside, I've read that this novel seems to echo the real life story of a young maths prodigy whose early entry to university follows a similar path to Rumi's (some of the finer details are very similar!).

[johnwbeha · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I fail to understand how this book appeared on the Man Booker longlist. I can only assume that the publisher, Viking, pushed it very hard. I just don't think that this book is well enough written to deserve such an accolade. In my opinion, it lacks character delineation and development and the plot has quite a lot of holes. For example, there is a total lack of interaction between the family and Rumi's secondary school; surely someone, somewhere would have raised concerns about the lack of any breadth in her studies. Why was she allowed not to attend school in the run-up to her A-Level? How did his work colleagues find out about her and the boy?
There are some interesting parts, mainly about her wanting to be part of school and teenage life, but I certainly did not find it "A Compelling Read"!
Others have commented on their disappointment with the ending; it was sad but inevitable, but not particularly well written.
I would not have chosen to read this book and I think I will find it difficult to discuss in depth at our book group because of my antipathy towards it. I would certainly not recommend it to anyone else.

[kbuxton_7 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read Nikita Lalwani's Gifted a few weeks ago and was a bit at a loss right away for the right description of it. The main character is a gifted girl in Wales, the daughter of Indian immigrants. It reminded me a bit of Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake (given the whole Indian-immigrants-trying-to-adjust-to-a-new-society thing) though I didn't like it as well. Not bad, just not as compelling a read.

[bookslifenmore · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is the story of Rumika Vasani a 9 year kid living in Cardiff. Her family comprises of a professor father (Mahesh), a working Mom (Shreene) and a 9 year younger brother (Nimbu). Rumi’s lives the life of an average child till the day,

her teacher Mrs. Gold comes to her home and tells her parents that their child is Gifted, A gifted Mathematician to be precise. Thereon starts the struggle of this kid, a struggle to fulfill her father’s dream. He wants Rumi to finish her A Levels at the age of 15 years (would like somebody to clarify the education system). Her father wants to prove that despite being an Asian he can get his daughter admitted to Oxford on her own merit and without any help from anybody. The story is about

• Rumi’s struggle to prove her father that she is focused enough.
• About Rumi’s life being centered around studies & Math’s per se.
• It is about the kid having normal fantasies for her age but them being curbed.
• About Rum’s mother who thinks that she should instill the cultural values which should be there in an Indian girl.
• About Rumi’s kid brother who wants to play with her sister but is not allowed to, so how he snatches moments with her is quite endearing.

Few disturbing excerpts from the book “The absence of Mahesh left her off centre, nervous and hungry for the rush of feelings that crept into her unmonitored heart with each new stimulus. She was freed from the guiding signals of his face, the expressions of affirmation, suspicion & disapproval that had been her barometer for so long.”These are the thoughts of Rumi and sadly show how dependent on her father she is and a clear lack of confidence. ‘I’ll do it’, she said, standing behind Mahesh, viewing his back with venom. You, disgust me, not just the other way round, she thought. You didn’t even have the guts to close the deal, tighten your grip when you put your hands round my neck….Is anything in this world worthy enough if it generates this much hatred from your own kid? The book is quite slow in parts but there is an undercurrent of sadness in the whole story which affects you. Things which I carried back with me

** Is putting pressure on a kid the right way to make her perform? ** How fair is it to isolate your kid from a normal life just to attain an academic goal? ** We are always creating a hue and cry on racism but, sometimes it is not in the minds of people whom we think are being racist but its in our minds & imagination that it is being practiced on us.** Being frank with your kids and creating a balance between education and other activities is a must. ** Her mother’s character is also very disturbing. I carried it back with me for a long time. Her frustrations of not being able to do anything for daughter are captured very well. He rsadness on her daughter drifting away from her is heart wrenching. I’ll recommend this book specially to people who have kids and to everyone in general . The debutant author has very beautifully captured the mind of a 15 year old kid. Who is not being allowed to behave like a teenager. It somehow is very close to reality, the reality of ever increasing competion in education and a strive to leave everyone behind to reach the top. But when you reach at the top you realise you are not only alone but bitter too.....

[cariola_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Rumika Vasi is a bright child and seems especially gifted at math--her father's academic specialty. But in the course of reading Gifted, I began to question whether Rumi was truly gifted or just pushed to extremes by her ambitious parents. Her father, Mahesh, determined that she would be the youngest child ever (at 15) to pass her A and O levels and enter university, schedules her every waking moment around studying for the exams. Rumi makes the grade, but neither she nor her family lives happily ever after.While Gifted had its moments of originality, I think perhaps I have read one too many novels about the generational and cultural conflicts of Indian-born parents and their "modern" children, born after their immigration to the UK, the US, and Canada. Inevitably, the parents come off as rigid, isolated, overly ambitious, and judgmental, while the kids just want to be like the kids next door. After awhile, it becomes formulaic. That's not to say that I wouldn't recommend Gifted to someone who hasn't overloaded on this type of story or who has a special interest in coming-of-age or immigrant stories. Lalwani's characters--particularly Shreene, the mother--are well drawn, and the novel takes some unexpected turns towards the end.

[frisbeesage · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Gifted is an interesting look at the immigrant experience through the eyes of a young math prodigy. Rumika is the daughter of two Indian emigres, her highly disciplined father and her very religious and traditional mother. Both see Rumi as their prodigy, their one real chance to succeed beyond measure. But Rumi is just a young girl, never allowed to let loose and be normal. As she nears accomplishments even her parents never thought she could reach the tension within her builds. In the end Rumi has to decide for herself how much she is willing to sacrifice for her parents ambitions.This is a complicated book with many layers. While most of the book is about the highly competitive world of child prodigies it also touches on the immigrant experience, arranged marriages, racism, and coming of age in America. Gifted is well-written with an easy flow that made it a quick read despite the heavy content and often dark tone. This is a book that made me think long and hard about the ethics of how we choose to raise our children.I listened to the audio version of Gifted. It was beautifully read by Sneha Mathan. She captured the quickly shifting moods of a teenager perfectly. I'm a sucker for a lovely accent and Sneha's is obviously perfect for this book.

[bookwoman84 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As one of those "for whom a family's love and high expectations have proven to be less than a perfect blessing," as the Editorial Director's note at the front of my copy of Gifted states, I started reading this book expecting to find some form of gifted-kid kinship (if you want to call it that) with Rumi.In a way, I suppose I did, though not the one I expected. My connection came not from Rumi's bridling against her father's near-sadistic rules for studying and blind quest to see her do well at any and all costs, but from the general quiet disappointments of growing up at large. Gifted or not, teenagerhood is a painful and destructive age, and one Lalwani captures with the practiced eye of one who has survived its battles.

[theblindhog · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Nikita Lalwani's debut novel is a coming-of-age story, an immigrant's tale, and a compelling cautionary tale all rolled into one. Set in Cardiff, Wales, the story centers on Rumi, a child maths prodigal of Indian descent whose family emigrated to Britain the year she was born. Her domineering father is a professor at a local university and her mother is a well-educated housewife suffering from severe melancholy and homesickness. For different reasons, neither parent is equipped to deal with the news that their ten-year-old is a math prodigy. The driven father, seizing on her childish desire to become one of the youngest ever to attend Oxford, establishes a regimen of study so ambitious that it consumes virtually every waking moment she has, to the exclusion of all other activities. The mother, who already bears a dark grudge against the man whose ambition forever separated her from her beloved homeland, now finds even more to resent as father and daughter form a closeness she feels unable to affect. But all between father and daughter is not well, and as the crucial exams draw near, greater still grows Rumi's sense of alienation and disaffection. Tellingly, Rumi's stress manifests itself in secret vices and very open outbursts of anger that threaten to destroy more than her dreams. "Gifted" is at heart a story about the caustic effect of parents who objectify their offspring, but it is also provides a fascinating glimpse at the immigrant experience and the corrosive effect Western cutlure can have on Eastern sensibilities.

[plenilune · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

i loved this book. except the epilogue. i found it completely unnecessary and it deflated what i thought was an excellent open ending. it's a four-star book pulled down by what feels to be a tacked-on close.

[cms519 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this book about a young math genius, Lalwani tackles issues including adolescence, gifted children, parental pressure, and the difficulty of raising a family in a society with values different from one's own. Lalwani's success with character development is a bit uneven. Rumika, the girl to whom the title refers, is likable, sympathetic, and has just enough quirks to seem real (the passages about her secret cumin habit are almost too vivid- my mouth felt raw when I read them). Rumi's parents are also fairly full characters. I wish that some of the other characters had been better developed. Whitefoot, Nibu, and the girls from Rumi's school all serve a purpose but seem a bit flat. Overall, this is an interesting portrait of an Indian family in Wales, supporting (and often pushing) their academically inclined daughter and the difficulties she encounters as a gifted child.

[writestuff_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Nikita Lalwani's debut novel Gifted is filled with vivid characterization and decidedly readable. Rumi, a second generation Indian with a gift for mathematics, is growing up with her family in Cardiff, Wales. Her father, Mahesh, drives her to achieve what only a few others have accomplished: acceptance at Oxford University at the age of fourteen. He is unrelenting and rigid in setting up Rumi's schedule of studies - which last for hours after school beginning when she is only five years old. It becomes apparent early on, that Mahesh's motivation is less about Rumi's future, and more about his own feelings of inferiority.Nikita Lalwani was born in India and raised in Cardiff, Wales - a predominantly white, Christian city - and I believe she must surely identify with Rumi who loves India from afar and wishes she were like the other children in her school. Rumi wants to be accepted in her adopted country - and is like any young girl moving from childhood to adolescence. But, Rumi's family clings to their Indian culture, isolating Rumi from her peers and demanding she surpass them academically. It is heartbreaking when Rumi asks her mother about sexual intercourse only to be told: "Forget science. That is their science, for white people. We do not do that."Rumi's mother, Shreen, is vividly drawn - a woman who gave up her dreams of becoming a doctor to marry a controlling man who moved her away from her family and the country she loves. Shreen is a tragic character, and someone the reader pulls for throughout the novel. She is the person we hope will rescue Rumi with her love. The relationship between Rumi and Shreen is painful, but realistic - and it tugs at the reader's heartstrings.As the novel unfolds, the divide between cultures seems to grow wider. There is a sense of doom that pulls the reader through the story, a feeling of voyeurism as we yearn to see how it will all end. Gifted is a novel about love and boundaries, about defining success, about the fine line between protecting one's children and smothering them. I found myself staying up long past my bedtime to finish this book - and it is one that I will be thinking about for a long time.Recently nominated for the Booker Prize long list, this is a book which is highly recommended.

[cindyfrag · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I really wanted to like this book. I liked the premise and was excited to read it. Unfortuately I just could bear it. Maybe my expectations were misguided, but I was disappointed. I normally decide by page 100 if I'm going to continue reading, but I made an exception with this book and persevered. I made it to page 150 and before I decided I just couldn't continue. I found the story very slow moving and uninteresting. Perhaps other readers will enjoy it more, but this one was just not for me.

[gocam_4 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

On an intellectual level, this is an interesting narrative set around a family those experience highlights both the pros and cons of the cultural melting pot approach to immigration so common in Europe and Canada ( less so in the US ) - where the immigrant experience is one of only partial integration (commonly within less than cosmopolitan environments), with great importance placed on cultural and religious survival within the host country.Rumi's parents struggle with being caught in a strange limbo - on the one hand proud and hard working, but socially excluded, and excluding themselves from a greater integration with society, while clinging to a past they worked hard to escape and to which they remain only lightly connected. They lack cohesive contact with either those that share their background, or others in the population. In the midst of this, their daughter suffers the brunt of the tension - unable to grow culturally as fast as those around there, and not benefitting from her parents historical context, Rumi is driven, literally, to excel academically almost to the exclusion of all else. Thus the pivotal visits back to India take on an even greater importance as they provide some sort of social contact that goes at least some way to explain why her parents are the way they are, and why they are raising Rumi in the manner they do.This is all interesting, and of course high drama ensues as Rumi grows and her parents are less able to control her feelings, while still trying to impose their stern will.But ultimately we don't learn enough about what drives the parents to be the way they are - they act harshly with their daughter, are insistent that her she follow a pre-ordained arranged marriage path, that her interactions with other be limited, and that she excel academically. But we don't get a good picture for what ideal they are holding on to so passionately, nor why they go through certain motions - why does Rumi's dad play chess so regularly with a character who would surely not do so after so many repeatedly boring and humourless interactions? What does her mum wish for ? Why did they move to Wales at all ? Rumi's second visit to India is full of interesting observation, but, again, the events that eventually transpire seem contrived.There are some grand passages, good ideas, wonderful observations and engaging enough writing within this book, but at the end I felt rather relieved to be leaving the characters' world, to be honest. This is a great first effort, but I look forward to seeing what Lalwani does next.

[bccjillster · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Exquisitely painful: remembering the searing agonies of being on the brink of growing up yet at the mercy of needing your parents love. Rumi crawled right into my heart though she is no constructed cutie--she's painfully human and vulnerable. She's sympathetic on one page, shocking and embarrassing on another. Quite real.Gifted reminded me of Colin Wilson's early outsider books--trapped in the effort of living in two worlds at once and being 'odd' in both.Highly readable and, I suspect, memorable. Rumika is worth knowing, to the point that I wanted to talk to her at the end of the book.

[myutopia · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Gifted, a first novel for Nikita Lalwani, is the sad tale of young Rumi Vasi , a child math prodigy. The novel follows Rumi through the years as her father puts more and more pressure on her to be successful. The books is broken into three parts, her at 10, 14 and 15. Success to her father meets admittance into Oxford University. Rumi however, not surprisingly just wants to be a kid and socialize with other children. At one point she craves the socialization so much that she brings friends over behind her parents back. It is a really sad story because you the reader feel for these young girls lost childhood. You also rejoice with each of her small rebellions. The most bizarre of which includes eating cumin. It really highlights Indian culture and the love of parents who want what is best for their child.

[jennyo_587543 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Gifted is the story of Rumi Vasi, a young Indian girl living in the UK. She's labeled as 'gifted' in math as a five year old, and her father, a math professor himself, spends the next ten years making sure she's a prodigy.I thought the book was brilliant. I found myself wanting to scream at Rumi's father, wanting to make him see what he was doing to her. Yet, I was also torn by the fact that he and her mother thought they were doing the best possible thing they could for Rumi. By how hard it is for parents to let their children grow up without forcing them into the molds we set for them, trying to make them better, smarter, stronger than we are ourselves. The story just ripped me up emotionally and will, I think, stay with me for days and days. It may be hard for me to start another book as these characters have really invaded my thoughts.I'll definitely be recommending this book to my reading friends. I hope it gets a wide audience.

[amysisson_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

At first, this book reminded me quite a bit of The Bee Season by Myla Goldberg, because both are about a young female prodigy pushed on by an ambitious father who gets caught up in the child's success. However, I'm afraid I was unable to relate to the characters in Gifted. While I enjoy details and complex thought processes, the little episodes and vignettes related in this book not only moved slowly, but also ultimately told me little about the characters' actual motivations. I also was unable to feel the joy in Rumi's mathematical exercises and accomplishments, unlike Bee Season in which I did feel the intellectual delight that the little girl experienced in her spelling. I'm afraid this book just didn't work for me.

[megsieg · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Gifted, by Nikita Lalwani, is a tense, taut novel about a young maths prodigy, Rumi, and her family. Its roving 3rd person perspective leaves us only slightly closer to Rumi than to her father and mother, a technique that lets the reader examine each character's motives, but which ultimately keeps the reader at a distance from all of them. This serves to increase the sense that this is a family of outsiders, but makes it difficult to really connect and root for their personal desires.All three of the main characters are complex and driven people, not fully likeable and prone to extremes of behavior due to age and cultural ideals. I found there were times that the tension between them grew so great that I had to put the novel down for a few minutes before continuing. Its resolution was a surprise, which is pleasant; however it was more of an ending than a resolution, leaving the questions of family love, ambition and cultural difference up in the air.

[mindfulone_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read this book quickly but found myself thinly satisfied at the end. Rumi's character and internal life were flat and undeveloped; the author attempted but fell short of her target. I felt a detachment from all the characters. I felt I was reading descriptions instead of internal experiences of consciousness. In fact, it reminded me of a psychological case study rather than a story.For a woman as sheltered as Rumi, the scenario with the Muslim college student rang false. She was entirely too confident for someone as socially unskilled as her character is.I did enjoy that she made an escape from her straightjacketed life in the end. The potential reconciliation suggested by her agreement to meet with her mother seemed gratuitous, though. The mother was the least sympathetic character in the story. (And I think the relationship dynamic between the husband and wife had such potential for the story but was neglected.)Still, the novel had enough power to keep me reading until the end. Lalwani has potential but needs to more fully develop her characters. I would not read this book again, nor would I keep it, but I did pass it along to a friend to read.

[brewergirl · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This is the story of Rumi, a mathematically gifted child, at ages 10, 14, and 15. Her parents emigrated from India to Wales, and Rumi has lived in Wales her whole life with a couple of trips back to India. Her whole life revolves around her father's efforts to get her admitted to Oxford early (strict study schedules, practice exams, etc.). Her mother meanwhile tries to uphold traditional cultural values and roles within the home and is resentful of having to leave India. I never really connected with any of the characters, and I found myself not really caring what happened to them. Outwardly Rumi seemed to struggle both with her parents' expectations and with normal adolescent nightmares, but I never got a clear sense of what she was feeling or thinking ... just how she reacted to a series of somewhat disjointed situations. I got much more of a picture of the mother's feelings and frustrations throughout the book than Rumi's. It took me forever to finish the book because I kept putting it down ... and I'm not sure I would have picked it up again if it weren't an Early Reviewer copy. The last section of the book flowed much easier, though, and had me reading right along until the end.

[stephaniesmithrn · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I really wanted to like this book, really I did. This being the first book I've received to review. But the truth is, it wouldn't have passed my 100 page rule under normal circumstances. It is utterly lacking in warmth, and the first half of the book is excrutiatingly repetitious. There are secondary characters that we explore in detail, yet add nothing to the story. And the ending leaves us hanging over a precipice with nothing close to resolution or epiphany. I had to force myself to finish it, and was angry that I wasted the time. I feel like such a jerk for writing this, but I promised to be truthful, so there it is.

[fionacat_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Gifted is the story of young Rumika, a maths prodigy living in Cardiff, who must deal with the pressure put on her by her parents not only to be a proper Indian girl, but to pass the entrance exams for Oxford before she turns fifteen.Despite her brilliance at maths, Rumi is absolutely clueless about life. Her world is restricted to school, study time at the library and home. Her father, a maths professor at Swansea, devises a strict schedule which she must adhere to. Naturally, Rumi wants to rebel against these restrictions, but she isn't sure how. As a coping mechanism, she becomes addicted to cumin seeds, eating them almost constantly until her mouth develops sores from the spiny seeds.This is also the story of Rumi's parents and their own assimilation into British society after growing up in India. They find it hard to imagine why their daughter would not be compliant to their wishes.Vividly written, this book brings you inside the home and minds of the Vasi family as events gradually build to the breaking point.

[bearette24 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Gifted is the story of a young Indian girl growing up in England. She's been labeled a math prodigy, a talent the reader is told about, but never really shown. Rumi seems like an average, rather self-absorbed child.There is a certain emotional distance with the characters. They seem like ideas, not people. As such, it is hard to be attached to them, or really care about them. But it is a painstaking look at Indian culture and history, and will appeal to fans of those subjects.The plot does pull you forward, as you wonder which will prevail: Rumi's normal teenage desires, or her father's determination to get her into Oxford at age 15.

[library_kate · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Gifted delves into the rarely exposed territory of a female, cultural minority, who has a mathematical gift. It does so without pretense, ponderous prose, or extraneous chatter. Rather, it shows the reader the personality traits of this young woman in a sparse, exquisitly detailed, clean, and very honest language. The writing magnifies the impact of the story by mimicing the mathematical themes. The reader can easily be so swept into the characters that the cultural overlay is absorbed only peripherally and finally only realized after contemplation of the novel in greater depth. One is so immersed in the characters that it is easy to forget they are part of a larger world.The story flows with exquisite descriptions that provide a deeper understanding of the conflicts and characters. It was a rare treat to read, I look forward to more from Lalwani!

[donna828 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The lovably weird Rumi has a propensity for lying and finds solace in numbers. This is one character that is going to be stuck in my head for a long while. She will probably always feel like an outsider due to her label as Gifted and her bizarre upbringing. She is socially awkward, has some COD tendencies, and a strange addiction to cumin, but I couldn't help rooting for her in her struggle for normalcy with her harsh and judgmental parents. This must be good writing, as I am thinking of Rumi as a real person.Much has been written on LT both pro and con. What can I add except that even smart kids just want to be kids. Reminiscent of Goldberg's Bee Season, without the mystical slant.

[bobbieharv · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very interesting story about the gifted daughter of Indian parents who push her to excel, and her struggle with being different intellectually and culturally from her peers. Her parents' abuse of her was difficult to read about, as was her addiction to cumin seeds of all things. The book felt autobiographical, in that it was almost too real, and the ending seemed an almost forced attempt to add perspective to the story. But, all in all, I really enjoyed it.

[debnance_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I didn’t get inside the head of the main character as much as I might have wished. The author did better getting inside the head of the parents of the main character, especially the mother. The main character is prodded and pushed, scheduled and organized, from the time she enters school by her parents. As one might expect, the prodding and pushing has deleterious results.

[msbaba · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Nikita Lalwani's celebrated debut novel Gifted tells the tragic story of the slow nine-year implosion and disintegration of an immigrant Indian family trying to raise their mathematically gifted daughter in Cardiff, Wales—a culture that the parents poorly understand and privately loathe. The book delves deeply into how even the most well-intended educational objectives can have deeply harmful—and even tragic results—particularly when they are played out upon a stage of cultural bias and emotional blindness. This is the tale of Rumi Vasi, a sweet child who finds immense satisfaction, beauty, and mystery in numbers. As a very young child, Rumi learns to interpret the world through numbers—numbers are fascinating, harmonious, and enticing. In particular, she loves the number 512. It is friendly because it can be created through a process of repeated doubling and this reminds her of her father's two open hands lovingly cradling her face between his palms. But all this natural joy for numbers comes crashing down around her when, at age five, her parents are told by Rumi's teacher that she is a mathematical genius—that they need to intervene in her education to make sure she makes the best of her talents. The teacher suggests she be introduced to Mensa, a society for highly gifted children and adults. Instead, Mahesh, Rumi's controlling and emotionally blind father decides to take the task entirely on himself. There is a great deal of cultural mistrust and misunderstanding behind this fateful decision. Mahesh develops a rigorous study routine that leaves Rumi almost no chance for play, self-development, or self-discovery. Mahesh knows all too well how difficult it is for an immigrant to become successful in Great Britain—doubly so when this person is a member of a culture, like India, that Mahesh strongly feels is misunderstood and undervalued. To succeed in this unyielding and unforgiving new environment, he fiercely believes that Rumi must not only be outstanding, she must be the very best—a nationally recognized child prodigy capable of gaining admittance to Oxford when she is only 14 years old. That is the lofty goal that Mahesh sets for his daughter. By the end of the novel, Rumi is deeply harmed but on a possible path toward recovery. Her father, on the other hand, is publicly humiliated in the national media and abandoned by his daughter. He becomes a fully tragic figure despite the fact that we have little reason to identify with or like this controlling, highly judgmental, and emotionally-damaged character. The author leaves us to ponder what it could be that has made Mahesh the unpleasant, emotionally crippled person he has become. Rumi's mother, Shreene, is also a tragic character. The author develops her carefully and lovingly, and by the end of the work, we care a great deal about this highly intelligent, fragile, and self-sacrificing human being. There is tragedy at the center of Shreene's life before the book begins—and it only gets worse as the story unfolds. In the end, we are left with the hint that Sheene's life could (perhaps in time) be redirected successfully toward a happier and more self-fulfilling course. One can't help asking: what would have happened to this family if they had remained in India—had they not immigrated to Great Britain? Unquestionably, they would have been less well-off financially—materialistically—but as a family, there is no doubt that in India, each member would have flourished emotionally—in India there would have been no tragedy at the core of their lives. So who is the villain here? Surely, the villain and the book's core message is one of failed multiculturalism. Is this not an extremely valid message for our times?Now, let me ask an even tougher question: what would have happened to this family if they had immigrated to a fictional Great Britain where cross-cultural understanding and valuation were actively encouraged, honored, and rewarded? Again, I think it unlikely that the tragedies at the core of this novel would have occurred. But (and this is a big "but") Mahesh brings with him great cultural animosity and outright hatred for Pakistanis and, by transference, all Muslim cultures, so this family would have had great trouble adopting a positive multicultural attitude in their new home. This proves that the villain in this novel is not the father, but the rampant lack of understanding and acceptance for other cultures that festers at the foundation of virtually all our societies worldwide. Gifted is being marketed both as an adult and a young adult novel. It has been longlisted for the 2007 Booker Prize, so there should be little question that the novel has strong literary merit and is worthy of being included in the young adult curriculum. This book has much to teach the young about the importance of cross-cultural understanding and valuation. As a society, we must learn how to diminish cross-cultural failure—we must learn to improve assimilation, cross-cultural understanding and valuation. This book could help in a small, but significant, way to achieve these goals. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It touched my heart and it left me with a great deal to ponder. I recommend it highly.

[bibliobibuli_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lalwani’s novel raises the question of how much can you push your kids academically?Rumika is 10 years old 2 months 13 days 48 minutes and 4 seconds old when the novel opens. When she was just 5, her teacher came to the house to tell her parents that she was a gifted child, and that this gift should be nurtured.Rumika's father, Mahesh, is a maths professor at Cardiff university, and knows that hard work is the immigrant's path to respect and recognition. He takes the idea of coaching his daughter on board and runs with it, imposing a strict regime on her that borders at times on abuse.Rumika longs for normalcy, but as she is forced to study ever harder, her relationship with her cold and scornful father deteriorates even further and she also finds her isolation from her friends increasing. As she enters adolescence she has to carve some freedom for herself, but ends up doing things which are risky and stupid - shop lifting, calling emergency services just because she wants to speak to someone, and harming herself. She also, quite comically, becomes addicted to cumin and munches her way through vast quantities of it. The only period of respite is a trip to India with her mother, Shreene.Lalwani does a very good job of depicting the sense of loneliness and dislocation in the family, and gets right inside her characters and exposes them. No matter how unlikable Mahesh is, we can understand his motivations and fears. Shreene is caught up in traditional notions of propriety and finds it difficult to navigate the compromises that must be made, not only to adapt to British society, but also to be able to understand and reach out to her daughter.This might make for painful reading but there are also some wonderfully comic moments in the novel, my favourite - Shreene trying out a bikini wax after reading about it in a woman's magazine.Rumika wins a place to Oxford, one of the youngest students ever allowed to do a degree course and the move gives her some of the freedom she has been waiting for. Lalwani builds up the sequence of events convincingly and Rumi’s actions come as no surprise. In fact we’re cheering for her as she asserts her independence in the final scenes of the book.This is a novel that young adult readers, particularly those experiencing examination pressure themselves will enjoy very much indeed. It is also an excellent cautionary tale for overly ambitious parents who should be treated to a copy of it by their kids immediately!

[rawlski · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

“Gifted” is the coming of age story of Rumi Vasi, a “gifted” math student, who is admitted to Oxford at 15. Rumi’s father works to ensure that Rumi’s “gift” is fully realized often pushing/pressuring her. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, however, found it difficult to read as Rumi’s story was often depressing. The author does a great job of developing the character and making the reader sympathize with her throughout her many ordeals.