Where the Peacocks Sing: A Palace, a Prince, and the Search for Home

by Alison Singh Gee

In this charming memoir, a jet-setting journalist falls in love with the heir to a ramshackle, one hundred-room palace in India, and finds home and love in the most unexpected of places Say you're a glamorous magazine writer with a serious Jimmy Choo habit, a weakness for five-star Balinese resorts, and a reputation for dating highborn British men. Then one day you find you're swooning over a most unlikely suitor, an Indian journalist who turns out to be a prince (of sorts), but whose family palace is falling to pieces, and whose intimidating mother, upon meeting you for the first time, examines your hair for dandruff. Would you run for the hills? Or would you soldier on for the sake of the man who just might be your soul mate?  A modern-day fairy tale, Where the Peacock Sings is a funny, insightful, and deeply moving chronicle of life in modern India as seen through the author's complex relationship with her husband's ancestral mansion, a century-old, hundred-room ramshackle palace called Mokimpur. Mokimpur is endearingly imperfect, a broken down relic in desperate need of a makeover. The Peacock Sings for Rain takes readers on a cross-cultural journey from the manicured gardens of Beverly Hills, to the bustling streets of Hong Kong and finally to the rural Indian countryside as Alison comes to terms with her complicated new family, leaves the modern world behind, and learns the true meaning of home. 

Genres: Memoir, Travel, Nonfiction, India, Biography Memoir, Asian American, Asia

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 19, 2013

Reviews

[Erica Harrold · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. It could have been a 'Eat. Pray. Love." had she not been a writer for People.

Vapid, trite and shallow - I'm sure Miss Gee is a lovely human, it just didn't come across in her writing. Her incessant reminiscing about the glamour of Hong Kong was dull. I kept hoping to see a maturation of her character - didn't happen. When her fiance shares the story about how he became a vegetarian (actually quite touching) she doesn't appear to grasp the beauty or the depth of the experience which shaped his life choice and (like a good Material Girl) wants to hear more about the palace. This scene repeated itself throughout the book. I found it tiring - maybe you'll see something different.

[Toni · Rating 2 out of 5]

A younger woman spends hours writing a book ,an older woman spends hours reading a book. Those hours are lost and can never be reclaimed. Enough said.

[Richard Kramer · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me a while to realize why I was loving this book so much, other than the fact that it is a) delightful, b) hilarious, and c) filled with fascinating insight into what used to be described as Other Lands. I loved this because it reminded me of books I read as a young teenager, not because it is pitched to a young audience (or YA; ghastly marketing term) but because it speaks of an amused, sardonic, adult point of view that seems as if it could only exist between the covers of a book. Had I read this at 13, it would have made me want to write books. Now, at 61, it makes me want to have written this book. Since I can't do that, all I can do is give it my highest recommendation. And a warning -- if you meet Allison's mother-in-law, Mrs. Singh, don't fear her. She's actually, as Allison finds, pretty great.

[Lee Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book for armchair travelers, amateur sociologists, book clubs, and readers who want to vicariously live with a royal family in India whose formerly grand lifestyle is slipping away.

Journalist Alison Gee is living her definition of success (a glamorous career, a rich boyfriend, a designer wardrobe, and five-star vacations), but something is missing. Enter Ajay, an Indian journalist for whom Alison gives up her lavish lifestyle. Only after Alison and Ajay are engaged, does Alison learn that he is a prince.

Alison’s journey takes her from middle-class Los Angeles where her father has grand dreams, but modest means, to upwardly-mobile Hong Kong, where girlfriends and boyfriends are accessories and last season’s clothes are taboo, to Mokimpur, a haveli in India where Ajay’s royal, but financially-challenged family lives in a 100-room crumbling palace where peacocks sing and daily life is centered around mouth-watering curries, samosas, parathas, and chai.

Snapshots from the book include: Alison, in four-inch platform shoes, towering above Ajay’s mother. Cow dung being shaped into patties for fuel. Hundreds of idols bathed in the sink and then wrapped in tiny cashmere shawls, and the faithful servant of four decades sleeping on the garage floor while bedrooms lie empty because reincarnation has determined his caste.

This is a beautifully-written story of a girl who finds her prince, a new set of values, and more than one place to call home.

[Cait · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like this book. The cover is gorgeous, and the backcover copy sounded really good. And then I started reading. I don't mean to be rude but it came across that all the narrator does is whine and complain about her life. She's selfish, crap with money for the majority of the book and just really irritating.

The other aspect I found hard about this book - which is no fault of the author - is that I struggled with India. How the country functions, the caste system etc. I just didn't understand how it could be that way and everyone was okay with it. So I found myself getting frustrated about certain interactions.

Overall, I'm not quite sure what the point of this book was. She has a difficult/crappy childhood, moves to Hong Kong, works, parties, bitches and moans about everything possible, meets love of her life, and then they struggle with money, and she meets the in laws and vacations in India all the way telling me...nothing important. She's not on a journey of self discovery and if she is it's hidden pretty damn well within her bitching and moaning.

So as much as I hate writing bad reviews, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.

[Melina Watts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still in a dazzle from book signing at Vroman's last week with Alison Singh Gee.

The pieces she pulled to read from the book had me so entranced that I HAD to read her book "Where the Peacocks Sing" while waiting in line for Mexican food on the way back home. The book is literally enchanting ... Hong Kong, India, Los Angeles, fascinating aka impossible relatives, crazy money, poverty, shimmery prose, true love, mangoes and peacocks...this book has it all.

The heroine ... who happens to be the author herself ... undergoes a massive transformation from "Sex in the City" cooler than thou designer clad journalist / babe in Hong Kong to ... well read the book to find out. But trust me, you'll like the end game.

At the book signing, the author joked that one of her writer friends commented that maybe the book was more of a memoir of her husband than of she herself;I would argue something different: this book is one of those rare romances wherein the back story of the hero and the back story of the heroine are both well served and the collision between their two worlds results in a different better combined reality, a happy ever after so sweet that I found myself forced to stop to buy Indian food on the day after I read the book to get some legitimate chai. Alison is one of those rare writers who writes male characters as well as she writes female characters and the other way around, too. And she does pretty well for writing houses as characters.

After such literary candy, I needed some genuine sweet of my own. Chai at night. Bed tea. An Indian noun learned from this truly delicious read.

Good for book clubs. Good for late night treat for you. A must as surely as those outrageous shoes Alison used to buy in Hong Kong back in the day...

[Rachelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's tempting to read this book as quickly as possible to find out what happens to the highly engaging characters. But then you may miss not only the rich ambiance of Hong Kong, India and LA's Chinatown, you may miss the layers of meaning within this tale and the depth of the characters' transformations. Beyond the entrancing love story is another journey, one where the author explores her family's past and her heritage, how notions of worldly success can blind us and what can happen if we challenge our idea of what matters in life. The concept of home and the broken-down palace were beautifully rendered and made me think about what home means to me.

I loved being transported between bustling Hong Kong and rural India. But moreso, I loved the narrator's reflections on what was happening within her, to her, as she questioned everything she'd known in her life and took a leap of faith. The sensible and spiritual wisdom from her Indian fiancé was inspiring. The epic culture clash between families was something many can relate to and showed that no matter what you do for love, there are still battles ahead.

I can't recommend this book enough. It's beautiful.

[Cate Loves Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unusual, exotic and entertaining memoir with a deep soul. Beautiful writing too! I loved this this book the same way I loved Eat, Pray, Love, but probably even more. This book to me had more depth in that you also witnessed the development of a deep love and a relationship to two countries that Allison had spent a lot of time in. Unlike Elizabeth Gilbert, hers wasn't superficial knowledge gleaned from a book or from being just a tourist. I had so many questions about Indian culture and this book answered a lot of those but in a way that had so much grace and humor. I learned a lot about Hong Kong, China too. I read it in my book club and we had a great discussion about it. We served Indian food and by the end of the night we felt we had been to India and Hong Kong and back again.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gee, an American journalist working in Hong Kong, meets a colleague, Ajay, who was based in India, at a company meeting. As their relationship blossoms, Ajay moves to Hong Kong so the couple can be together. Ajay soon reveals to Alison that his royal family home is a “palace” in a rural Indian village called Mokimpur.

There’s a clash of cultures as Gee struggles for acceptance from Ajay’s family and slowly learns to appreciate the beauty of the dilapidated family home and its surroundings.

Gee is honest in revealing her and Ajay’s struggles as well as their shared joys. A sweet love story of two disparate cultures coming together.

[Ajay Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soul searching takes many forms but when it's combined with grit, romance and humor in a memoir as candid and deep as this, you realize that literature and life do not have opposite goals after all. To turn Truman Capote's apt conception of human existence on its head, Alison Singh Gee's journey reads like a breathtaking play with a superb third act.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the very first lines of Where the Peacocks Sing I was hooked. Alison Singh Gee led me through her journey of self-discovery, and the search for a deeper existence, with powerful images and unforgettable characters. In her memoir, she recounts her high octane life as an editor of Asiaweek in Hong Kong with humor, especially when she describes her elitist expat British friends. A world that was very foreign to me until I read this book. The best part though, is when she meets Ajay, a handsome and unpretentious Indian journalist and goes with him to his native village in India to meet his family. What began as a charming fairy tale soon turns out to be a crash course in how to deal with a haughty and detached future mother-in law, a broken down hundred-room palace that was once the jewel of Northern India, and the inflexible Indian caste system. A must read for anyone who knows what it means to look for home when life's journey takes you away from what is familiar and safe and propels you into the unknown. One never knows where that home is, until you get there.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished the book in less than 24 hours, so obviously I enjoyed the book. I really would like to give it more than 4 stars but two points keep me from doing so. The first is for all the defined terms in the book. I figure in this multi-cultural interconnected world that either a) you should know what a non-english word means or b) if you don't know what it means you should educate yourself and look it up on the internet. I found these definitions jarring to the flow of the narrative.

The second point was that structurally, the book felt like it was missing a chapter. In particular, I thought that the book should have had a more extensive chapter at the end of the book with Alison and Ajay in Los Angeles. I think this would have better mirror/balanced their early time together as documented, mirrored/balanced Alison's early years in LA, and finally more succinctly shown the change/growth in Alison.

Overall a great first book.

[Madge · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful book about two families and the sharing of their lives. When Alison met Ajay they had very different ideas about life and I wasn't sure this was going to work as a relationship (even knowing she had written the book in current time and was married and had a child) but as you read about their finding their ways in different cultures, I began to see how their differences would come to represent the best parts of each of them as they forged a relationship and marriage. This book begs a sequel. I want to follow them back to America and see if they make the Haveli a home with at least hot water and updated bathrooms. And how now at least 5 years into their marriage how they have learned each other's customs and how the families have adjusted. An enjoyable read and since I have traveled to India, a reminder of all it's wonderfulness.

[Denise Florent · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I am reviewing. One of the most charming books I have read in a while. I fell in love with the fairytale love story set in India and Hong Kong, and I learned so much about two big beautiful lovely cultures. The author seems like a fun smart woman and I enjoyed being taken (on the page any way) through these countries and through her life. The book is also laugh out loud funny which surprised me. So many things in one book. I also love how she examines the idea of what society wants us to want and what our hearts might actually want and how it is so hard to listen to the voice inside ourselves. Ultimately, that is the only way we can live and fly. I cried when I read the epilogue. Beautiful book. I recommend it to anyone who loves to travel, who loves romance, and who loves life philosophy.

[Catherine Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

i saw this book reviewed in people magazine and since i have traveled to india three times, knew i had to read it. this book took me back to asia with all its descriptive writing. i loved the scenes in high society hong kong as much as the ones at the indian palace. the book also took me back to a decade in my life when i was truly searching for my place in the world. i was also surprised to learn so much more about life in rural india and among the newly poor indian royals. i didn't expect the book to be as funny and entertaining as it was. that was a nice surprise. i have kept it in my car so I can re-read my favorite passages and be back in india (even when in reality i'm just at starbucks.) i recommend this book to anyone who loves india, asia, traveling and books about finding themselves. great read.

[BJ Gallagher · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wise editor once told me, "That which is the most personal is also the most universal." His words echoed in my mind when I finished reading "Where the Peacocks Sing." While I am neither Indian nor Chinese, I could identify with Alison's rich, romantic memoir about marrying the son of a difficult, possessive mother-in-law from another culture. I'm WASP; my difficult, critical mother-in-law was Hispanic – but the dynamic I experienced was very similar to Alison's. The colorful cast of characters in her new husband's extended family brings back memories of my own experience marrying into an eccentric clan I didn't understand. I'm sure I'm not alone in relating to Alison's story ... millions of women from many different cultures will identify with her experience. Because, indeed, that which is the most personal is also the most universal.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though the exotic globe-hopping to which this fairy tale of a memoir treats readers is fabulously transporting, the story itself remains remarkably relatable throughout. Told with endless care, craft and humor, it’s candid and soulful, authored by a writer possessed with the rare gift of relating the gritty, deepest lows just as deftly as she reveals her enthralling highs and delightfully comical anecdotes. A riveting and relentlessly entertaining tale, the book also dispenses plenty of cocktail party-appropriate conversation fodder—in the form of factoids detailing the history and traditions of India, Hong Kong and Southern California—making it an illuminating, yet unfailingly enjoyable, read.

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS BOOK CHANGED SOMETHING IN ME. I think we all forget that traveling often has very little to do with our preconceived notions of a place. We decide to go for one reason, and usually, if we stay open, we return with something unexpected. We return a more complex, intelligent and alive version of ourselves. This is how I felt reading Alison Singh Gee's book. I found myself giving in to her writing, taking in India's countryside, her new family there, the haveli, the bright pops of color in the wheat fields, and the food. Astonishing. The book absolutely took me to India and Hong Kong. And I think the book gave me enough inspiration and courage to put aside my anxieties, and consider getting on a plane and going.

[Vicki Seamons · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am sorry I missed Ms. Gee at Vromans. I would have liked to see if she is as bubbly as she writes. It was a quick enjoyable read. It gave me insight into a country and people I know so little about and helped me understand the caste system and how it still survives in this day and time. It was interesting to see how Ajay's family came to accept Ms. Gee and how she came to understand them. It was distracting that she used Indian words and did not explain most of them. So you either kept with the book and its flow or stopped, disrupted the story and looked up the word. It was not a profound story but a very enjoyable story and proof that love and childish fantasies do come true!

[Roopa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was particularly well timed for my India trip and highly recommend it as travel/vacation reading. Awesome for when your facing tepid water bucket showers and toting around Bisleri. Ms. Gee does a beautiful job celebrating India, which I really appreciated. She also brings nice color to Hong Kong and what it's like to be an journalist these days. On occasion, I found the dialogue to be irksome, but it's clearly a reflection of what an honest and self-reflective story the author told.

A great modern memoir. I aspire to have a memoir like Where the Peacocks Sing. Honest, romantic, well-traveled and light-hearted.

[Mirte Meeus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I tried to draw out the read as long as possible but ended up reading the story in three sittings, you just can't put the book away. The cultural insights are unbelievably interesting, in the end you have not only read a fascinating love story but you have also learnt a lot about exotic countries, cultures and relationships. And then there is the third act... Such emotionally charged scenes, I was often brought to tears. The struggles, the journey and the love story come together at an intersection in life where all is intertwined and happiness and acceptance is all there is left.

[Ernie Wang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Over her improbable journey that traverses faraway lands and the ends of the socioeconomic stratum, Alison is forced to come to terms with a past that at once defines and haunts her. In the process, old world clashes with new, walls are erected over proud hearts and familial territory - then torn down with kindness and grit - and a home is unearthed - an unexpected home, a bewildering one at times, but a home that Alison had spent a desperate lifetime searching for. An honest, beautiful, heartaching read.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dreamy and memorable. A journey that takes you through a vivid landscape of the India countryside, and that also leads you into a young intelligent woman's journey through time, emotions, and memory. Although my life is very different from Alison Singh Gee's, her story brought my solo travels through India and Hong Kong back to me with a terrific force, the smells, and wonderful food tastes, and conversations both inane and life changing. That palace! That mother in law! A poignant memoir that I won't soone forget.

[Robin]

I meant to just read the first few pages to see if I wanted to keep it on a "must-read" list and I am completely hooked. At first glance this would be a good companion to the movie "The Best Marigold Exotic Hotel" and the novel it was based on, "These Foolish Things" by Deborah Moggach. My only complaint so far is that I wish there were more photographs of the actual palace.

Finished this and enjoyed this fun and romantic memoir.

[Londongirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the humanity and scope of this book. The characters were so rich and real and funny. Each one had her/his own loopy tics and motivation, Including Alison, the author, who seems like a charming but complex person. It was lovely to move through the mad streets of Hong Kong and then into the private rooms of an Indian palace. What a delirious and delicious true-life adventure! Will read this book again for certain.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I especially liked that it wasn't sugar-coated. There were some adjustment difficulties and these were brought out. Otherwise it would have been your run-of-the-mill happy happy fairy tale. Extremely enjoyable and I'm waiting for the next one!

[Chitra Ahanthem · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that I read in two straight sittings: the tone of the book is extremely chatty even as the mood and ambience is vividly described for the reader to feel that you are present as a side character. ‘Where the Peacocks Sing’ is the real life romance of Alison Singh Gee an American Chinese journalist with a high flying life who falls for Ajay Singh, an Indian journalist. There is romance certainly: the romance of an exciting life rubbing shoulders with the well heeled, the romance of a new country and other discoveries and the romance between the writer and her colleague of sorts who becomes her live in boyfriend and then her husband. Alison’s life of material pursuits and Ajay’s life philosophies that are rooted in Indian culture makes for an interesting juxtaposition and as the narrative proceeds, the reader can only smile when the two strands merge as one.

I have read my fair share of books that tell us how foreigners see India and I would say that Alison Singh Gee’s book certainly counts as one that I enjoyed for the way it has captured the colours, the food, the traditions, the smell, the dust and the beauty of India. I would recommend this one for readers who are looking for a fast read but one that will also leave you with some thoughts.

[Leanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the scene where she was making Chai in her HongKong apartment. I loved the way she portrayed her husbands family and the moment she called her mother-in-law "mom." I loved Hong Kong and the Taj Mahal, loved her wedding in the desert. One of my favorite short story collections is A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain--and so was touched that it was her first gift to her soon-to-be husband... loved Arrow of a Blue Skinned God (my favorite book about India) and loved A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth--a favorite novel which I have read five times, despite the fact that it injures my wrists to try and hold open the massive book. I loved the peacocks, her prince and her palace.

[Dominika · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bardzo nie podobała mi się ta książka, była nudna i cały czas o tym samym, (bieda, bogactwo). Męczyłam ja długi czas i cieszę się że dotrwałam nareszcie do końca. Ps. Uważam ja za jedną z gorszych książek, które przeczytałam w swoim życiu.

[Louise Annetta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written... evocative...appealing to all senses. An entirely different perspective on Indian culture ... very informative and at the same time touchingly human