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    Mother Land: A Novel
    Mother Land: A Novel
    Mother Land: A Novel
    Ebook441 pages7 hours

    Mother Land: A Novel

    By Leah Franqui

    4/5

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    “Lively and evocative, Mother Land is a deftly crafted exploration of identity and culture, with memorable and deeply human characters who highlight how that which makes us different can ultimately unite us.”—Amy Myerson, author of The Bookshop of Yesterdays and The Imperfects

    From the critically acclaimed author of America for Beginners, a wonderfully insightful, witty, and heart-piercing novel, set in Mumbai, about an impulsive American woman, her headstrong Indian mother-in-law, and the unexpected twists and turns of life that bond them.

    When Rachel Meyer, a thirtysomething foodie from New York, agrees to move to Mumbai with her Indian-born husband, Dhruv, she knows some culture shock is inevitable. Blessed with a curious mind and an independent spirit, Rachel is determined to learn her way around the hot, noisy, seemingly infinite metropolis she now calls home. 

    But the ex-pat American’s sense of adventure is sorely tested when her mother-in-law, Swati, suddenly arrives from Kolkata—a thousand miles away—alone, with an even more shocking announcement: she’s left her husband of more than forty years and moving in with them. Nothing the newlyweds say can budge the steadfast Swati, and as the days pass, it becomes clear she is here to stay—an uneasy situation that becomes more difficult when Dhruv is called away on business. 

    Suddenly these two strong-willed women from such very different backgrounds, who see life so differently, are alone together in a home that each is determined to run in her own way—a situation that ultimately brings into question the very things in their lives that had seemed perfect and permanent . . . with results neither of them expect.

    Heartfelt, charming, deeply insightful and wise, Mother Land introduces us to two very different women from very different cultures . . . who maybe aren’t so different after all.


    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateJul 14, 2020
    ISBN9780062938862
    Author

    Leah Franqui

    Leah Franqui is a graduate of Yale University and received an MFA at NYU-Tisch. She is a playwright and the recipient of the 2013 Goldberg Playwriting Award, and also wrote a web series for which she received the Alfred Sloan Foundation Screenwriting award (aftereverafterwebseries.com). A Puerto Rican-Jewish Philadelphia native, Franqui lives with her Kolkata-born husband in Mumbai. AMERICA FOR BEGINNERS is her first novel.

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    Reviews for Mother Land

    4/5

    32 ratings6 reviews

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    • 4/5
      It took me a while to get into this, but I was smitten by the end, which was exactly as it should have been
    • 5/5
      What would you do if you have moved to India with your new husband and your mother-in-law just shows up out of the blue....to stay... “forever”? For Rachel, it’s so foreign she’s not sure what to do.
      A rich and detailed novel of friendship, family & culture clash that ends up being a amazing cannot put down adventure full of unexpected discoveries!
    • 4/5
      Expat Rachel Meyer is living the dream life in Mumbai. Having met her husband in a New York bar, she moves with him to his native India. Not only is the culture different, but having her mother-in-law move in with them on a permanent basis is the real cultural shock. And then to top it off, her husband leaves for a month-long business trip and the two women are left to learn how to live with each other. Its funny, even if your mother-in-law isn’t Indian, and the best part it is the story of how two women who are alone, become champions of each other.
    • 5/5
      Cross cultural and cross generational growing in unexpected ways.So you uproot yourself from family and friends and follow your love to his home country. We're not talking about an American in Paris here, rather an American in Mumbai. Culture shock? Yes, especially when your mother-in-law lands on your doorstep, and not just for a two week visit. You see, having left her husband, it appears Swati is determined to educate Rachel on how to be a proper Indian wife. Irony anyone?When Rachel ends up with a cleaner coming more frequently and a cook she definitely doesn't want things start to fall apart, and yet mysteriously they also come together, just not in the way either Rachel or Swati expected. For Rachel cooking is important, for Swati one has servants for that.Rachel Meyer saw coming to Mumbai as an opportunity to have a more ordered life, to experience a new beginning. She finds something different. Her new understandings in many ways are due to her mother-in-law. Swati has done something so unusual that it leaves everyone in shock. She has left her husband. Rachael is mostly out of sorts at Swati's sudden intrusion into the life she thinks she's building. Rachel had been convinced that, 'Dhruv would make her happy, he would make her life something stable, something solid.' In India that strength became tradition and expectation and Rachael's life was not going forward. Dhurv becomes a different person once back on home soil. This realization is subtly creeps up on Rachel.Swati has been exceedingly brave to go against her generation's customs. It takes some time for Rachael to realize this. As things develop the antipathy between them lessens, although not without major road blocks. Cooking plays a part. As Swati's later reflects, "They had seen each other." I love that line. 'I see you' is a powerful statement.In the end the multi faceted aspects of relationships, knowing oneself, personal development, courage and regret all mingle to make a fascinating read.I cheered, I was saddened, occasionally embarrassed if not shocked especially around Rachel's thoughts and observations about the expat society and their overt racism generally. Talk about tiffin and tea, or maybe it's the gin and tonic hangovers of the previous century! I loved it when Rachel begins to view India through the prism of her acquaintance Richard whose embraced India. This too is a growing moment for her.A wonderful read!A HarperCollins ARC via NetGalley
    • 4/5
      I thoroughly enjoyed this engaging and interesting novel. It is the story of an American woman, Rachel, who marries an Indian man, Dhruv and moves to Mumbai with him. They have only been married a short time when his mother, Swati, leaves her husband and moves in with them. Dhruv is called away on business and Rachel and Swati must learn to live together. It was a great perspective of the Indian culture - I learned a lot. Rachel and Swati were real, believable and empathetic women. I loved how their relationship evolved and progressed the same way they did personally. I highly recommend this book. Thanks to NetGalley and The Book Club Girls for the ARC.
    • 4/5
      In Leah Franqui’s second novel, Mother Land, Rachel finds herself newly married and relocated from New York to Mumbai with her Indian husband. Adding insult to injury, shortly after arriving she opens the front door to find her mother-in-law, Swati, prepared to move in for the foreseeable future. Franqui--an expat living in Mumbai herself--does a wonderful job of capturing the flavors, sounds and sights of the city and Rachel’s struggle to belong there. The tentative relationship that she builds between Rachel and Swati feels tense, genuine and uniquely interesting--two women forced together but finding themselves. The fact that we hardly get to know her husband, Dhruv, may be part of the point, but their marriage does not feel real at all. This lends to the unevenness of the novel as certain tropes seem clunky and somehow the timeline feels too rushed near the end. Franqui has a real feel and talent for character and setting, which make Mother Land an enjoyable read even with some bumps in the road.

    Book preview

    Mother Land - Leah Franqui

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