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Bindi
A richly imagined debut set against the backdrop of southern India, West London and Hollywood that tells the story of a young Indian boy, suddenly orphaned, and the adults around him, each of whom, in different ways, is also looking for a home in the world.
Despite the sudden death of his mother, several years after losing his father, eight-year old Birendra refuses to believe he is an orphan. He has an aunt in West London, his mother's troubled but winning twin sister, Nayana. But when the letter informing Nayana of her nephew's plight is delivered to the wrong address, numerous lives are forever altered, and Birendra is set adrift.
In the aftermath of a failed attempt to get pregnant, Madeline, a Los Angeles native and interior designer to the stars, flies to India, where she finds herself at an orphanage, face-to-face with Birendra. In a moment of sudden certainty, she decides that adopting this boy, whom she later nicknames "Bindi," is precisely the act that will save them both.
As Nayana falls deeper into a crisis at home and in her marriage, and Madeline begins to come to terms with the full meaning of motherhood-its emotional responsibilities and unforeseen crises-Bindi learns to make himself at home in new surroundings, forging an especially close bond with Madeline's younger brother Eddie, who begins to worry his sister, so successful in many ways, may have met her match in motherhood.
For more than two months, the missing letter stays missing. Will Bindi never reconnect with his one remaining relative, the aunt who seems to have ignored his plea? Or will his adoptive uncle succeed in finding his aunt and unwittingly prompt the two women who love him most in the world to battle for him?
Written in stirring prose and infused with keen emotional insight, Bindi is about our search for family and for home, and an exploration of the ways that loss and longing can be converted into hope, connection, and love.
Despite the sudden death of his mother, several years after losing his father, eight-year old Birendra refuses to believe he is an orphan. He has an aunt in West London, his mother's troubled but winning twin sister, Nayana. But when the letter informing Nayana of her nephew's plight is delivered to the wrong address, numerous lives are forever altered, and Birendra is set adrift.
In the aftermath of a failed attempt to get pregnant, Madeline, a Los Angeles native and interior designer to the stars, flies to India, where she finds herself at an orphanage, face-to-face with Birendra. In a moment of sudden certainty, she decides that adopting this boy, whom she later nicknames "Bindi," is precisely the act that will save them both.
As Nayana falls deeper into a crisis at home and in her marriage, and Madeline begins to come to terms with the full meaning of motherhood-its emotional responsibilities and unforeseen crises-Bindi learns to make himself at home in new surroundings, forging an especially close bond with Madeline's younger brother Eddie, who begins to worry his sister, so successful in many ways, may have met her match in motherhood.
For more than two months, the missing letter stays missing. Will Bindi never reconnect with his one remaining relative, the aunt who seems to have ignored his plea? Or will his adoptive uncle succeed in finding his aunt and unwittingly prompt the two women who love him most in the world to battle for him?
Written in stirring prose and infused with keen emotional insight, Bindi is about our search for family and for home, and an exploration of the ways that loss and longing can be converted into hope, connection, and love.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published August 14, 2018
8 people are currently reading
1128 people want to read
About the author
Paul Matthew Maisano
1 book25 followersPaul Matthew Maisano is an American writer originally from the Bay Area. He holds degrees from Columbia University and the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where he was the third-year McIntyre Graduate Fellow. BINDI, published by Little, Brown and Company in August 2018, is his first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
September 22, 2018
Interesting premise but probably needed a different writer. It was all very light weight. Chapters alternated between the story of Bindi who was orphaned at the age of 8, and his aunt's marital soap opera in England. Bindi's problems could have been solved by a simple phone call. The whole thing takes place over the course of only a few months and felt dry, emotionless, dull and unlikely.
August 27, 2018
Full disclosure - the author is the son of one of my best friends. So, I will keep it simple & just say that I was eager to get back to this book each night & I loved his rich detail of India which I know is evidence of his extensive travel there.
Also, I believe this would be an outstanding choice for book groups; it raises several topics that could generate lively discussions.
Also, I believe this would be an outstanding choice for book groups; it raises several topics that could generate lively discussions.
August 22, 2019
Bindi is about "a young Indian boy, suddenly orphaned, and the adults around him who also seek a home in the world." Maisano's style is to introduce characters from one character's perspective, and then have them assume the main focus of the succeeding chapter, thus weaving together the plot of inter-related characters' lives in a fashion that is skillful, fluent, and highly readable. the work is high literary fiction--meaning no supernatural or magical elements--and thereby focuses on "introspective, in-depth character studies of interesting, complex, an developed characters, whose inner stories drive the plot, with detailed motivations elicit emotional involvement in the reader." in fewer words, Maisano writes straight naturalistic prose, and the result is a sort of Dogme 95 of literature: no special effects, no post-modern tricks, nor superfluous action.
the make-or-break issue for literary fiction, of course, is whether the novelist is able to bring his characters to life and invite sympathy for their plights. to this degree, Bindi is a success. like E.M. Forster or Jonathan Franzen, Maisano creates a world that is self-consistent and balanced, whose tone is evenly-matched, and whose title character, in particular, comes to life as an individual with complex emotional reactions and feelings. the academic world in West London, the glamorous universe of Hollywood, and an ashram in India are evoked in both broad strokes and attention to telling if minor detail, and the result is a fine debut, demonstrating the life experience of the writer (who is a world traveler), with seeming effortless ability to rebound between worlds. in many ways this book reads as if it were the author's third or fourth book, rather than a debut, and it is a sturdy professional work that should stand the test of time, and will undoubtedly evoke conversation and debate in the years to come. 5/5
N.B. I am a personal friend of the author, but paid for my copy on my own dime, and will receive no compensation, financial or otherwise, for this review.
the make-or-break issue for literary fiction, of course, is whether the novelist is able to bring his characters to life and invite sympathy for their plights. to this degree, Bindi is a success. like E.M. Forster or Jonathan Franzen, Maisano creates a world that is self-consistent and balanced, whose tone is evenly-matched, and whose title character, in particular, comes to life as an individual with complex emotional reactions and feelings. the academic world in West London, the glamorous universe of Hollywood, and an ashram in India are evoked in both broad strokes and attention to telling if minor detail, and the result is a fine debut, demonstrating the life experience of the writer (who is a world traveler), with seeming effortless ability to rebound between worlds. in many ways this book reads as if it were the author's third or fourth book, rather than a debut, and it is a sturdy professional work that should stand the test of time, and will undoubtedly evoke conversation and debate in the years to come. 5/5
N.B. I am a personal friend of the author, but paid for my copy on my own dime, and will receive no compensation, financial or otherwise, for this review.
November 1, 2018
Why white dudes from writer courses shouldn’t write outside their lives. The only truly authentic voice was the white dude who was the brother...
January 2, 2025
A very enjoyable read, and I liked that you got 4 different character's perspectives. This book tugged on the heartstrings and I kind of wish it went on for longer. Guess I'll just have to imagine how it all pans out instead
September 17, 2018
This was a solid read. Bindi is an amazing little boy. 3.5 stars.
February 1, 2019
A dear boy.
June 14, 2019
What a sweet, sad, hopeful book! I loved it; would’ve been 5 stars if the “good” characters hadn’t been so one-dimensional.
September 22, 2018
A sweet story about an orphaned Indian boy who searches and learns to find a place to call “home”.
July 23, 2018
This was a great book and a very fast read. The book initially starts off in Kerala. From traveling in India, I think he did a great job of capturing the essence of India especially the Ashram.
You can’t help but love Birenda who was wise beyond his years. I think that the author did a great job with supporting characters and you could clearly see their flaws and the baggage they carried. However, for such a traumatic event to happen, I didn’t see the depth in the main character. Not only did Bindi lose his only surviving parent, he became a pseudo big brother/ caretaker in an orphanage. Then gets whisked away to another country and placed in school. All this in a span of three to four months. No culture shock, very few meltdowns and in many instances was the only adult in the room (besides his Uncle Eddie).
You can’t help but love Birenda who was wise beyond his years. I think that the author did a great job with supporting characters and you could clearly see their flaws and the baggage they carried. However, for such a traumatic event to happen, I didn’t see the depth in the main character. Not only did Bindi lose his only surviving parent, he became a pseudo big brother/ caretaker in an orphanage. Then gets whisked away to another country and placed in school. All this in a span of three to four months. No culture shock, very few meltdowns and in many instances was the only adult in the room (besides his Uncle Eddie).
October 18, 2018
This poised debut novel is built on soil rich in unconditional love— a tender and gentle thing so rare in our current violent, twisted cultural climate in which divisiveness and hostility reigns supreme. The story of Bindi is the opposite of bombastic or salacious. It gently glides deep into the soul of a polite and studious Indian orphan drifting from his origins in a fateful way that may never find itself again. The thread of this loss lurks in the ghost of Bindi's mother and her identical ex-pat twin (Bindi's Aunt) who walks away from an affair and a teaching job pregnant and troubled. Some deaths in Bindi are known and some are found later, but all the ghosts have a logic of their own. Bindi operates on an engine of optimism, luck, loss and the possibility of unconditional love. As someone who has traveled extensively through South India, and specifically Kerala, I fell in love with this story and you will too.
August 19, 2018
2.5 but rounding up. Simplistic, saccharine, and self-conscious.
But such a promising premise; alas, just did not at all live up to the (albeit moderate) hype.
I did not feel like I was reading a book about real people, with real emotions, at all. I was being told things about a story, not told a story with any immediacy.
This just kind of seems like a riff on Saroo Brierly’s brilliant memoir, and not even a very interesting one. Flat characters with wishy-washy feelings. The only tolerable one was Edward, and he didn’t even get the spotlight enough.
Sigh.
But such a promising premise; alas, just did not at all live up to the (albeit moderate) hype.
I did not feel like I was reading a book about real people, with real emotions, at all. I was being told things about a story, not told a story with any immediacy.
This just kind of seems like a riff on Saroo Brierly’s brilliant memoir, and not even a very interesting one. Flat characters with wishy-washy feelings. The only tolerable one was Edward, and he didn’t even get the spotlight enough.
Sigh.
December 26, 2018
I enjoyed the story. Perhaps a little unrealistic, I don't know. A young boy from India is adopted by a wealthy California female kind on on a whim when his living family member does not get notified of his mother's death. Overall a nice read, but I didn't care for the ending unfortunately. Didn't tie up the loose ends nicely as I would like.
December 30, 2018
This was cute though maybe not the most believable. I really did not like how it ended though. I felt it never really finished, there should have been 3 more chapters.
January 5, 2021
Loved this book til the last page where it felt like the story abruptly ended.
October 26, 2018
"'I think I mean that expectations can make it harder to love, and the closer you get to home, the more you expect from those around you, and vice versa.'
'That wasn't true of Aditi,' Nayana said.
'Yes,' he said. He seemed to be reconsidering. "Maybe it isn't true after all. Maybe it's just an excuse.'"
Bindi was full of nuance and beautiful writing, with a young Indian boy's story interweaving with a family's healing and reconciliation.
The story flowed at a steady rate, nothing too slow or too large of a cliffhanger. Although some may dislike the style, for me it made the transition between perspectives easy to follow.
Bindi also brings up such complex ideas on identity, love, acceptance, and family. I never felt sure of his adoptive mother's motivations in going to India, but definitely felt her love and insecurity in being a mom. However, she is at times selfish and unable to celebrate Birendra's heritage in some way that remotely resembled his life in India and not some caricature played by white people and elephants. And yet, he still found a new home with his new family.
Uncle Eddie was probably my favorite character in the book. He seemed less shallow or concerned about outside judgment in comparison to others, and actually put Birendra ahead of his own desires. Meeting Birendra also seemed to bring him peace, and helped reunite the family to move forward in the face of change.
'That wasn't true of Aditi,' Nayana said.
'Yes,' he said. He seemed to be reconsidering. "Maybe it isn't true after all. Maybe it's just an excuse.'"
Bindi was full of nuance and beautiful writing, with a young Indian boy's story interweaving with a family's healing and reconciliation.
The story flowed at a steady rate, nothing too slow or too large of a cliffhanger. Although some may dislike the style, for me it made the transition between perspectives easy to follow.
Bindi also brings up such complex ideas on identity, love, acceptance, and family. I never felt sure of his adoptive mother's motivations in going to India, but definitely felt her love and insecurity in being a mom. However, she is at times selfish and unable to celebrate Birendra's heritage in some way that remotely resembled his life in India and not some caricature played by white people and elephants. And yet, he still found a new home with his new family.
Uncle Eddie was probably my favorite character in the book. He seemed less shallow or concerned about outside judgment in comparison to others, and actually put Birendra ahead of his own desires. Meeting Birendra also seemed to bring him peace, and helped reunite the family to move forward in the face of change.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 2, 2018
“A richly imagined debut set against the backdrop of India, London, and Hollywood that tells the story of a young boy, suddenly orphaned, and the adults around him, each of whom is also looking for a home in the world.”
That was the intriguing summary I kept coming across in favorable reviews, but on a whole the book fell somewhat flat. I enjoyed the slower pace of this novel, and rooted for most of the characters, but every one of them and each storyline felt unfinished and underdeveloped. It had the promise of a decadent seven layer cake, but somehow the frosting was forgotten.
That was the intriguing summary I kept coming across in favorable reviews, but on a whole the book fell somewhat flat. I enjoyed the slower pace of this novel, and rooted for most of the characters, but every one of them and each storyline felt unfinished and underdeveloped. It had the promise of a decadent seven layer cake, but somehow the frosting was forgotten.
August 24, 2018
For the first time in a long time, I found myself saying "just 15 more minutes" multiple times after starting this book before bed one night. I was instantly invested in the characters, and I thought the story was original and (mostly) realistic. Despite a couple parts that seemed to drag on, and a couple that seemed a bit far-fetched, it was overall a well-written, captivating read that's sure to stick with me for a while.
August 25, 2018
Maisano's debut novel is a joy. While Birenda (Bindi) is the central character of the story, it is just as much Edward's story as the two come to terms with life and family.
Maisano has given us a world of flawed people trying to make sense of their lives and a small boy who becomes the anchor for them all.
Maisano has given us a world of flawed people trying to make sense of their lives and a small boy who becomes the anchor for them all.
January 30, 2019
Bindi could have been a great book, but for me, there was just too much going on for such a short book. In theory, I liked the idea of seeing Bindi's story from so many perspectives and seeing how many lives he affected, but there were so many characters that I never felt as if I really knew about any of them (except, perhaps, Eddie).
November 25, 2018
Bindi is a book I won on Goodreads. It is the story of a young Indian boy who lives with his mother. His mother dies unexpectedly, and Bindi writes to his aunt and uncle to have come for him. The letter gets lost, and what happens after that is all that Bindi goes through to find home.
March 17, 2019
I like the story idea, but not the writing. It could have been so rich, but most of the characters were incredibly shallow. It made it difficult to continue reading. And the execution of the story was so unrealistic.
May 29, 2019
I really liked this book in a subtle way. Adoption is something close to my heart. My heart hurt for Bindi, Maddy and Eddie. I felt Nayana was selfish. I don't know what triggered that emotion in her. I wish there was a better ending. I won this book in a goodreads giveaway.
September 6, 2018
Everyone in n this universe is special and good and e enough those who try not to be are quickly offered a helping hand.
September 13, 2018
Maisano’s prose will envelop you, and Bindi’s story will break your heart.
September 22, 2018
I liked this book and its unusual theme. Well written and enjoyable.
September 29, 2018
Wonderful, rich and emotional story
I knew about this book because I am friends with the author's stepmother and was totally enthralled and enchanted. A wonderful, fast read.
I knew about this book because I am friends with the author's stepmother and was totally enthralled and enchanted. A wonderful, fast read.
October 22, 2018
It was good for as far as it went. It left me wanting..
November 20, 2018
This was an okay read.
December 11, 2018
Quite absorbing story of an orphaned Indian boy.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews