Bijou Roy

by Ronica Dhar

“Ronica Dhar captures the struggles of family and cultural identity with such tenderness and depth of feeling that she makes these subjects completely her own. Bijou Roy is a thoughtful, elegant novel.” —Ann Patchett Bijou Roy’s life in Washington, D.C. is not thrilling but it is steady. When she loses her father to a long illness, she travels to India to scatter his remains in the river that runs through his native city. With the weight of her grief still fresh, she leaves a career and relationship in limbo only to be thrust into unfamiliar territory. Never having fully understood why her parents severed their ties to India, she is drawn to Naveen, the son of her father’s closest comrade. Naveen holds over Bijou intimate details of their fathers’ past and their political involvements. Quickly, she is embroiled in the mysteries of love, grief, and family histories, questioning what happens next when the customs of neither an original nor an adopted culture provide comfort. In her quest for answers, Bijou sees how each generation must wrestle—often at great risk—with the one who came before, and, perhaps above all, comes to learn how to replace sorrow with hope.

Genres: Fiction, India

256 pages, Hardcover

First published July 14, 2010

Reviews

[Gillena Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Her name is Bijoya, her dad called he Bijou, shortened loving. A daughter who had enough time as a first daughter before the arrival of a sister, to love her dad dearly and completely.

Since there is no son, she - the eldest child a girl, must return to India to scatter his ashes along the Hooghly River.

It is his death (and the expected cultural ritual) which moves her even deeper in her love for this parent: to know him before she was even a thought. And affords her then - a love of her father's homeland and culture, history and family life, and worthy friendship in Naveen. (Almost fated as the friendship of both their fathers - who were players in the drama of social disruption in their hey day as members of the Naxalites.)

Bits of politics, bits of romance, lots of family time spins the story of 'bijou roy' told to us by 'ronica dhar' in this her first novel.

My favourite quote: "Why weigh down your life with houses, tables, beds and cupboard goods? Better to furnish your mind. With? Truth. Justice. Love. Friend-ship"

[Shagufta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful language! Made me wish I understood/spoke Bengali.

[Blanca · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[Jouraine]

This is a book by an Indian author writing about an Indian character who is being forced to go back to the motherland, all the while complaining about how horrible it is, after being in America. Surely, this has never been done before... oh, wait... Maybe I'm just harsh because I recently read Mango Season which was pleasant and easy, compared to this one. I felt like I had already taken the journey, only it was much better the first few times.

There is writing what you know, and then there is pigeonholing yourself into a niche where others have already done so much better. Trawling the same pond that has been fished hundreds of times before doesn't say that you are innovative or creative, unless, of course, you have new bait, a new net, or some new invention; no, it just means that you are too lazy to venture out, forge your own path, and make your own discoveries.

[Alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had so much potential, but left me empty. Lots of questions that were never answered. The young woman, Bijou Roy, returns to her parents' native India to set her father's ashes free into the river because there were no male heirs to do so. While in India, Bijou gets little glimpses of her father as a young man, a revolutionary, an activist, a friend, but no one answers her real questions about him--she can't get his whole story. While this may be a lesson for us that we can never know our loved ones' pasts as we'd like, it was terribly anti-climactic to find out nothing. I feel a bit used actually as I read always anticipating the rush of emotion at the top of the plot mountain, but never getting there. Ronica Dahr does wonders with the language, but I hope that next time, she gives us a conclusion worthy of the story.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really had to push through this book...not sure if it was due to the tough week...or the writing. I guess just read this and gain your own opinion.

This story follows the incongruous life of Bijou Roy, an American-raised Indian. After her father's death, she goes home to rituistically throw his ashes in to the Gangee river. Here in Calcutta, she contemplates her life with her American boyfriend and her new love interest, the son of her father's revolutionaristic best friend.

The story never really does say who Bijou Ray ends up choosing. I don't think that the jumping timeline works for this novel. With some editing, this could be great novel.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up because I wanted some light reading, and was pleased to discover that this piece of "chick lit" has some depth to it. Bijou travels to India and learns about her father's past and his involvement in political movements 20 years after Partition. This is a time period I have not encountered before in Indian literature in the US, and it was interesting to get a peek into the politics and philosophy of creating a new Indian nation, essentially from scratch. Although part of me was hoping for a tidy ending to the "love story" part of the novel, I like that Dhar left the end ambiguous. I would read this author again.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot hardly breaks new ground--a young woman born and raised in the U.S. to Indian parents travels to India for the first time to release her deceased father's ashes in a holy river. There she pieces together a history of her father that she had never suspected while growing up, and maturity brings a new perspective on her family's culture. However, "Bijou Roy" is so elegantly written, such a lovely elegy for her father and times gone by, that it is well worth the read.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointed in this novel which started off promisingly. Bright girl, American born, of Indian parents, returns to India (second trip) to spread her father's ashes. The description of Kolata was best and most believable part of the book. Also, some of the history of the Naxalite movement was of great interest to me. But the cultural identity issues, love life (do I love him, or him, or none of above) felt unreal, as did even her reaction to her father's death.

[Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book's main character, Bijou, grows up in suburban Detroit and moves to Washington, DC. As a result, many of the American geographic references are familiar to me: the Ambassador bridge, commuting from Oakland County to Washtenaw, Pewabic Pottery, Eastern Market, driving from NIH down Wisconsin Ave. to return to DC, cherry blossoms, the Potomac river, U Street.

Funny how that happens.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I learned a bit about East Indian traditions, but found the book almost boring. The protagonist discovers secrets of her family's past and she evaluates her own romantic interests, but it was a struggle to follow the story line. I had higher expectations...

[Nasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

The description of Calcutta is what kept me going. I liked the character, but wanted so much more of her than Dhar was willing to give. A potentially good story, but an achingly slow read. I would recommend this for former Calcuttans.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

A slow moving book. I've read better books about Asian Indians. It is a story about cultural identity and it has a good ending.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Complicated life of Indian girl brought up in Detroit, she goes to Calcutta and learns about her father's radical and not so heroic past

[Mary Torres · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very touching with a struggle for identity and the passing of a father. You can get lost in this book . . .

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book and easy to read. I enjoyed how vividly the author described life in Calcutta - I could very nearly imagine what it was like over there. Incredibly rich, yet simple prose.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not what I usually read, but this has a captivating series of narrators and plays with time and place in compelling ways. Plus Ronica is great!