"Haunting Jasmine" is a novel that reminds me of early Alice Hoffman. Created with attention to her characters, including the ones that haunt her main character, Jasmine, Ms Banerjee gives us a story that will capture your imagination and your sense of the "suspension of belief" adventure.
From the book summary:
"Divorcee Jasmine Mistry is intent on restarting her life when she gets the chance to do just that. A call from the past brings her home to Shelter Island, a green dot in the middle of Puget Sound, to run her beloved aunt's bookstore.....Auntie' Bookstore, nestled in a quaint Queen Anne Victorian and believed, not incidentally, to be haunted."
This author is witty, wise and an accomplished writer. From the first paragraph she'll hook you into her world and her quirky ways. She's a master storyteller who can make you hoop with laughter one moment, have you heartsick in another, and sitting in eerie curiousity the next. Having written a number of children's books and other novels, she is seasoned and this books shows it.
Naming and talking about classic authors and books, delighting us in descriptions of her surroundings, she is bright and wiley, spinning a tale that will have you sitting up to finish "Haunting Jasmine"...even if it's the middle of the night. Truly, what bibliophile wouldn't love tidbits like the following:
"Lucia pulls a pocket notebook from her purse, licks her thumb, and flips to the first page. 'Was Jane Austen a realist? Charlotte Bronte said her work was like a "carefully fenced, highly cultivated garden." Ralph Waldo Emerson said that her depiction of life was "pinched and narrow."'
I was in love with her ghostly sweetheart, Connor. He is the man every one of us would want to know. So touching and such a deeply rendered love story that it rakes at one's heart like nothing I've read lately. And, he's such a contrast to Jasmine's cheating, self-absorbed ex-husband!
It is an added bonus that Ms Banerjee shares some Bengali traditions, fashions and recipes with us. This is always a treat to see in literary fiction, and allows us a small window into the exotic world of other peoples. The author seasons her prose with these additions, making it so natural within the American setting that it may delight and inspire one to go to the nearest shop selling such treasures! A great addition while reading the book.
All in all, I highly recommend this beautifully written book. It's a novel not to be forgotten. I expect it will do very well once readers get their hands on it! Ms Banerjee is an author I would love to hear more from very soon.
GIVEAWAY !!! Enter before April 1st, 2011
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Good luck! This is a really fabulous book.
Deb/TheBookishDame
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