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Anju and Sudha Series

This series delves into the profound bonds of family and the intricate tapestry of life in India. It follows the intertwined destinies of two young women, connected by an unbreakable tie from birth. The narratives explore themes of love, loss, and resilience against the backdrop of traditional societal expectations, including arranged marriages. Each installment offers insight into the strength of female friendship and the journey of self-discovery in a world in transition.

The Vine of Desire
Sister of My Heart

Recommended Reading Order

  1. Sister of My Heart

    • 336 pages
    • 12 hours of reading

    Anju is the daughter of an upper-caste Calcutta family; her cousin Sudha is the daughter of the black sheep of the family. Sudha is as beautiful, tenderhearted, and serious as Anju is plain, whip-smart, and defiant. Yet since the day they were born, Sudha and Anju have been bonded in ways even their mothers cannot comprehend.The cousins' bond is shattered, however, when Sudha learns a dark family secret. Urged into arranged marriages, their lives take sudden, opposite turns: Sudha becomes the dutiful daughter-in-law of a rigid small-town household, while Anju goes to America with her new husband and learns to live her own life of secrets. Then tragedy strikes them both, and the women discover that, despite the distance that has grown between them, they have only each other to turn to. Set in the two worlds of India and America, this is an exceptionally moving novel of love, friendship, and compelling courage.

    Sister of My Heart1
    4.0

  2. The Vine of Desire

    • 352 pages
    • 13 hours of reading

    m ZZ-UNEDITED-TWUK THE VINE OF DESIRE is the story of Anju and Sudha, two young women far from Calcutta, the city of their childhood, and who after a year of living separate lives are rekindling their friendship in America. The deep-seated love they feel for each other provides the support each of them needs. It gives Anju the strength to pick up the pieces of her life after a miscarriage, and Sudha the confidence to make a life for herself and her baby daughter, Dayita - without her husband. The unlikely relationships they form with men and women in the world outside the immigrant Indian community as well as their families in India profoundly transform them, forcing them to question the central assumptions of their lives, especially when they must confront the deeply passionate feelings that Anju's husband has for Sudha. THE VINE OF DESIRE is a novel of extraordinary depth and sensitivity. Through the eyes of people caught in the clash of cultures, Divakaruni reveals the rewards and the perils of breaking free from the past and the complicated, often contradictory emotions that shape the passage to independence.

    The Vine of Desire2
    3.5