The Full Moon Bride-Shobhan Bantwal

The Full Moon Bride
Shobhan Bantwal
Kensington, Aug 1 2011, $15.00
ISBN: 9780758258847

Environmental lawyer Soorya Giri feels she is the last thirtyish virgin in New Jersey. She desperately wants to marry and raise a family instead of living with her parents as she currently does. In fact Soorya fearing her biological clock is ending before it begins starts to consider the abomination of an arranged marriage; something that the second generation loathe as too much old country tradition when they have on line and other contemporary means to meet males.

Her first few “bride viewing” events are as bad as she expected. Then Soorya meets Rajesh “Roger” Vadepalli. He is handsome and intelligent, but though she wants him Soorya distrusts his charming confidence as she does not believe he wants to get married. Thus she turns to widowed peer Lou. Suddenly from zero to two men interested in her, Soorya reacts negatively unable to cope with an abundance of males in her life.

The Full Moon bride takes a close look at the Indian-American culture, which mingles tradition from the old country with modern technology and the culture of the new country. Soorya is fabulous as her frustrations hold the plot focused. She gets angry and insolent hiding her fear of failure behind the façade of caustic wit (mindful of the Debbie Reynolds’ character Mary McKellaway in Mary, Mary). Readers will relish Soorya seeks her groove as Shobhan Bantwal noted for her powerful social issues takes a lighter but insightful look at the second generation Indian-American “princess’.

Harriet Klausner