TLC Review: The Taste of Ginger by Mansi Shah

Title: The Taste of Ginger

Author: Mansi Shah

Year published: 2022

Category: Adult fiction 

Pages: 317 pages

Rating: 4 out of 5

Location: (my 2021 Google Reading map): USA (IL) and India

Summary: In Mansi Shah’s stunning debut novel, a family tragedy beckons a first-generation immigrant to the city of her birth, where she grapples with her family’s past in search of where she truly belongs.

After her parents moved her and her brother to America, Preeti Desai never meant to tear her family apart. All she did was fall in love with a white Christian carnivore instead of a conventional Indian boy. Years later, with her parents not speaking to her and her controversial relationship in tatters, all Preeti has left is her career at a prestigious Los Angeles law firm.

But when Preeti receives word of a terrible accident in the city where she was born, she returns to India, where she’ll have to face her estranged parents…and the complicated past they left behind. Surrounded by the sights and sounds of her heritage, Preeti catches a startling glimpse of her family’s battles with class, tradition, and sacrifice. Torn between two beautifully flawed cultures, Preeti must now untangle what home truly means to her.

Review: This is my kind of book and here's why:

• Family drama and relationships. Preeti and her brother have a wonderful relationship, which helps the reader learn more about the situations.
• Set outside the US with a look into a culture that is different from my own
• A story of a woman who is finding herself and how she fits into her two worlds. I really liked this part as Preeti talks about race in the US, being too Indian in America, but not Indian enough in India.
• Characters that I like
• A moral dilemma
• A little romance (or the potential for romance) that isn't the focus, but is a nice theme
• Fast and fun to read
• A good ending that isn't all roses, but is hopeful

Challenges for which these count: 

• Diversity--South Asian characters and author
• Literary Escapes--India

Review tour:

Wednesday, December 8th: Reading Reality

Wednesday, December 8th: @stacy40pages

Wednesday, December 8th: @chez_colline

Thursday, December 9th: Helen’s Book Blog

Thursday, December 9th: @readyourworriesaway

Friday, December 10th: @nsiabblog

Monday, December 13th: @bookstasamm

Monday, December 13th: @abbys_library3 on TikTok

Tuesday, December 14th: The Book Diva’s Reads – excerpt

Wednesday, December 15th: @totahlybooked

Wednesday, December 15th: @diveintoagoodbook

Thursday, December 16th: @nurse_bookie

Friday, December 17th: @americanlitteacher

Saturday, December 18th: @booksandcoffeemx

Monday, December 20th: Eliot’s Eats

Monday, December 20th: @backporchpages

Tuesday, December 21st: @books_with_bethany

Wednesday, December 22nd: @bookdragon217

Thursday, December 23rd: @suzylew_bookreview

Monday, December 27th: Girl Who Reads

Wednesday, December 29th: @jenniaahava

Saturday, January 1st: The Cozy Book Blog