Invisible Lives

Author: Anjali Banerjee
Genre: Chick Lit/Contemp Romance
Grade: A


Lakshmi Sen was visited by the goddess before her birth. She was promised gorgeous hair (on which she was advised to use only herbal shampoos) and a special gift. Laksmi's special gift is her ability to see the perfect sari, the sari that will help her customer solve problems, win hearts and find happiness and she uses that ability day in and day out as a partner in her mother's sari shop.

She knows there is something special about the day her gift shows her pink bubbles of happiness surrounding her mother so she isn't surprised when their shop lands a huge customer and she simultaneously finds out her mother has begun arranging her marriage to a handsome Indian doctor. But she is surprised when her gift begins to fail around the important Bollywood client's chauffeur. More, she is surprised to find out just how much she has in common with the charming, very American Nick.

This book has a delicious touch of magic much like Sarah Addison Allen's "Garden Spells". It was fun watching Laksmi use that magical gift to help others reach their full potential. It was also great to learn a very little bit about sari's -- the story of their origin, how they are worn, what colors are worn when. While the book is firmly set in America it also highlights just how Indian American's are thoroughly tied to their community both through the small taste of home they have here and their frequent trips back to the mother country. It was fascinating reading about Laksmi's tie to her roots and her own internal struggle on fitting in in the much freer American culture while staying true to her past. I love books with a sweet sense of humor and this one abounded with that quality.

Lakshmi is a wonderful, well drawn out character. It is easy to understand what motivates her throughout the book and while she is a complete sweetheart she is no doormat. She stands up for people when she needs to including giving aid to a young woman who wants to escape an arranged marriage. She has her choice of two potential heroes and while I was thrilled with the one she chose I liked the other guy enough to wish he had had a love story too. The secondary romances and what Lakshmi learns about her own parents love story make a good background for Lakshmi's own tale, really giving the book a feel of being full of romance.

Ms. Banerjee is writing children's books right now, which is a shame. I felt like this book was so great, so fun I could definitely have done with many more works like it from her.

Tea: Here is a link to a recipe for Indian Milk Tea, which is mentioned in the book. http://www.chai-tea.org/rec/rec103.html