While I sort of liked this book on the whole, I thought the characters were too one and two dimensional. But for Sivakami most of the portraits of the women in this story were pretty flat.
In fact, I felt the author tried too hard to write a "sweeping" narrative and I found myself getting really, really bogged down by too much periphera.
At the end, I felt like I had just read a travelogue.

Describing the length of this book generally ends in words like: "Epic" or "Sprawling," but The Toss of a Lemon is both of these, although perhaps not in the best way. "Toss of a Lemon" chronicles a family throughout an era, starting with a marriageable Sivakami at age 10, progressing through her children growing up, and ending as her grandchildren reach adulthood.

The best thing about this novel is that the cultural aspect is in full force. It takes its time to juxtapose a very traditional, upper-caste Brahmin (Sivakami) against the changing political and social eras of her children, as they deliberately mix and erode the idea of class. It tells an interesting story, although it can drag a bit. It was enough to keep me entertained on a 23-hour plane ride, but I don't think that I derived any lasting insight from the book. I like looking through books for thought-provoking passages and quotes, and this was more of a storytelling book with a somewhat pedestrian plot.

"Toss" was ambitious in scope, but the characters occasionally came off a little bit too unwieldy or simplistic (for exmaple, the Vairum character was immediately known upon birth to be weird, marked, and a dark soul; Goli is immediately made known to be a selfish lout), and they did not really complete any character development; they sort of just react to their surroundings. Otherwise, the story is filled with a motley assortment of characters - enough to take your mind off of the simplicity of the characters, and their backgrounds are all lovingly explained in detail.

While I enjoy reading books about different cultures, I was a little bit ambivalent about this book because of the partial lack of character development and the fact that Indian politics were alluded to, but never explored in any depth. Because the book promises "social and political upheaval," I was expecting more. However, if you liked "The Kite Runner," you will probably enjoy this book. "The Life of Pi" is also somewhat similar in lengthy narrative, but does a much better job being much more focused.

Anyway, I liked it overall, and thought that the story was compelling, but in the end, I only thought that it was an average novel. Would I read it again? Probably not, but it was worth reading once.

The Toss of a Lemon will leave little middle ground with readers. Fans of the book will get swept up in the book's epic, yet intimate, scope and be transported to another world by the book's intricate descriptions. The book's detractors will only experience tedium after being exposed to over 600 pages of names and ritual titles.

Which side of the argument do I agree with? While impressed at the effort that it took to write the book, I find myself on the "tedium" side. The main reason why I feel this way is because the story, despite clearly being a very personal tale for the author, has a surprising lack of emotion. The entire story seems stultified by the very social structures that it portrays. Consequently, it is difficult to generate an emotional connection to the characters when those characters spent most of the book repressing their emotions for the sake of their social class.

Family stories set in other cultures can work (see The House of the Spirits). But, those works contain an emotional center to which readers from other cultures can relate. Such a center isn't present in The Toss of a Lemon. Thus, while the book is an impressive achievement, the story itself is not worth the effort needed to read the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I took my time to read it slowly, to better visualize the events as they were unfolding. The size of the novel had me concerned at first; I was not sure I would find the story interesting enough to commit to the many hours necessary to complete it.

How wrong I was. The rich explanations of traditions, situations, and personalities had me reading that extra page before turning out the light at bedtime. I looked forward to reading each night and then each morning. I was sorry to see the landscape of India and this family fade as I read the last sentences before closing the book for the last time.

I felt angered about many aspects of the culture, but found myself most upset with the treatment of widows and the blame women took upon themselves. I learned much on my visit and have a greater respect for the strength of women past and all they had to endure.

The Toss of a Lemon was a wonderful trip to a colorful and strange land where monkeys are left offerings and love and duty are not exclusive of each other. An easily readable book; descriptive and vivid.

I became very involved in this book, the story and its characters and their lives. I pronounced every name in my mind every time I read them - it took longer but I didn't mix the people up either. This book starts with a young girl having an arranged marriage at the age of 10. Many girls of her culture in India were married at the age of 7 or so until the British rulers banned the practice decades later. The young brides did not live with their husbands (in his parents' home), however, until they were "of age" - meaning not until they had started their menses. This is a story of how a young girl is married, is widowed at age 18, cannot go out of her home between dawn and dusk due to her beliefs as a Brahmin caste member - it is a shame for her, as a widow, to be seen by others. She cannot touch anyone during the daytime as well - if she does, she has to bathe again. She cannot remarry for the rest of her life. With all of these restrictions, she manages to care for her household, cook all of the meals, keep track of the income for the properties that she owns, prepare for holidays, and see after her children, grandchildren and great-grand children and so much more.

As each of the generation grow up, we live through someone in that generation but keep tabs on those before them. The first main character is Sivakama, the widow. We learn of the children and the good and bad characteristics of each including how each person deals with living with the rules of the caste they are a born into -- it is a very important part of the stories we read. Many people are connected to each other - sometimes in surprising ways. We feel their elation, their anxieties, their sadness, their perplexities.

This book is a book of fiction but the descriptions of the people, the cities, the homes, the religion, the happenings of the times, etc. are fact and the things talked about and lived through really happened to people like them in real life. The politics of the each time period are real and how people reacted to them is shown through the main characters as well as those in the world around them.

I loved reading this book. I kept reading a few pages a day -- more if I had the time. I wanted to find out what happened to everyone but knew I would miss them when I finished the book. I had a strange thing happen after I read the last page. I wept. It was all over but these fictional people will forever be in my memories.

Sometime in the not too far future, I will take this journey again to be reaquainted with the people I have grown to love and understand.

The Toss of a Lemon by Padma Viswanathan is a hefty epic novel about an Brahmin Indian family, spanning three generations---beginning in 1896. Although the book is fiction, the author's idea for the book was based on stories told to her by her grandmother over the years.

The novel follows Sivakami, from the time of her marriage in 1896 at the age of ten, to when she becomes a widow at age eighteen, left alone with two young children. The story continues as the reader watches the difficulties faced by her household and other family members during this period, up until her death. The family remained central to the story despite the political atmosphere at the time.

The book was an impressive work which I did enjoy. Having said that I need to add that there was far too much detail for my taste (the author could have easily eliminated 150 pages and still had a beautiful novel). In addition, I did find some difficulty with the writing style ( more annoyance ), as certain passages did not flow smoothly. Despite this the book is recommended for readers for enjoy a very good historical novel.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this book. Although it deals with Indian culture, it doesn't get bogged down in a lot of difficult concepts (or language) that were foreign to me. What it reveals about the culture is fascinating to me as an American, but the story is based on universal concepts, like love of family and children and duty. It was an easy read that flew by and was interesting as well as entertaining. Highly recommended!

Two nights ago, I was about halfway through this book when the phone rang.

I was startled. For a moment I forgot where I was. I had to blink my eyes a couple of times before I recognized my own living room, and I was angry at the phone for pulling me back into this world.

It's not often that a book so captivates me that I forget about my own surroundings. Padma Viswanathan has written a book which drew me into a world not much larger than one Brahmin household in southern India. Thanks to her skill at describing it, I felt completely comfortable in a location and a culture so foreign to my own. And while I could never accept the caste system described here, exploring it through the eyes of a strict Brahmin, a woman married at 10 and widowed eight years later, gave me a depth of understanding that I could never find in a textbook.

If you are interested enough to have read this far, I strongly recommend this book.

This book was both enlightening and frustrating. First, it was way too long, 616 pages, which could and should have been half that. There were many things I loved about this book, the historical value, the social upheaval in India masterfully woven into the story, the character development (but with a book this long there is plenty of writing space for that), and the richness of some of the writing, like when the husband of the main character, Sivakami, dies and she has to go through the Brahmin caste ceremonies that will brand her a widow. She must from then on only wear plain white cotton saris on her body, must have her head shaved, all because of the notion that the wife "in some cosmic, karmic way is responsible for his death, and must be contained." The writing in this chapter (4. Fever) is excellent and my favorite in the book.

But by the time I was halfway through the book I was getting tired of it and wanted the story to move along and end. There is much unnecessary repetition all throughout the book, and way too much detail about everything; much of it is written like a documentary. Very early in the book we learn of the fate of Brahmin widows of that time, and the state of "madi" they need to maintain during the daylight hours, not being able to be touched by anyone, even their own children, and this is reiterated over and over as if the reader is going to forget. Also, by the end we know the characters very well and many of the outcomes of their lives were disappointing to me and didn't ring true with what I knew about them throughout the book. And the end itself was anticlimactic and disappointing. This is not a true story, it is a fictional account based on stories told to the author by her grandmother, so there is no reason in my mind for it to read and end like a documentary. There are many annoying things like this that made this story less appealing than it could have been.

That said, I do not regret having read it, but I am one of those patient, detail oriented readers I mentioned in the title, so if you are not, you may not get through it.

In the past year or so I've read a number of historical novels that took place in India and have found it a fascinating and very different setting from the traditional western (mostly British) historical fiction market. "The Toss of a Lemon" was a vine pick set in India and so I found my interest peaked and selected it.

But in spite of the fascinating subject matter of the book (A man doomed to early death literally because the way a ritually thrown lemon at the birth of his son fell and his young widows struggle and unconventional life thereafter) I had a very hard time getting through this book. I attribute this to a coupe of things

1. The scarcity of dialog. You could go pages and pages without anything being said. There was quite a lot of description of people's thoughts but very little actual speaking.

2. The lack of a glossary for terms that a person without knowledge of Indian culture would have difficultly understanding. I understand that this novel was written for a target audience which would in all likelihood understand most of these terms but I didn't and it really cuts down on my enjoyment when I have to keep pausing in my reading to Google something.

3. The general lack of interest that the characters inspired. I found it very hard to care about them.

All in all I have to say that I just didn't like this book much.

Two stars.

The Toss of a Lemon is the beautifully written, gently told lifetime story of Sivakami, a Brahmin woman, and her household. The reader follows Sivakami from her marriage ceremony in 1896 at ten, through her widowhood at eighteen, her establishment of her own household (against custom) and then watches the paths taken by Sivakami and her children and grandchildren until death in 1962. The focus easily changes between Sivakami and other family members, presenting a full and fascinating picture of a Brahmin household and of life in India at that time. This was a book I read slowly, not because it was tedious or difficult to read, but because I wanted to savor it, and not miss any, even minor, detail.

Unlike many historical novels, The Toss of a Lemon is very realistic in that, though there are many major historical events happening, they are not generally immediately effecting Sivakami and her family. This was quite refreshing and gave this novel the feel of real life.

In a way, I was reminded of the novels of Jane Austen, in which not a whole lot happens that might be considered earth shaking and yet, one must keep reading. Sivakami and her family were so well fleshed out, their lives so fully drawn, that I grew to know them, and their domestic concerns were of great importance to me, as well. And while it is a family epic, so to speak, I was not overwhelmed by length of the story or by many changes in characters.

The one discordant note in this lovely work is that Ms. Viswanathan tended to switch back and forth between present tense and past tense verbs. I found that to be distracting and as a result, could not give The Toss of a Lemon a full five stars.

Despite that, The Toss of a Lemon is truly a wonderful book that brought alive a time and place and culture of which I had no previous knowledge. I most certainly recommend this!

This is one of the best books I've read through the Amazon Vine program. It is a soft gentle book about the life of a Brahmin woman in Tamil Nadu India from 1896 until her death in 1966. There is historical scope but it is not done in a way that loses the female center of the novel. This is not a book where situation overwhelms and "sweeps" over the individual, it is a tale based on a person's life and larger history happens in the background only affecting the character's life in small ways. At 18, Sivakami, the main character becomes a widow and only ventures outside her home 3 times after her husband's death. In an important change, she was taught to handle her own finances before his death and learns to take care of herself, her children and later her grandchildren in a way that most widows would never have been able to do. She is not a character that stands out for her individuality as much as her adherence to tradition. Sivakami is able to take care of herself and others when others are able to do it. That keeps her alive and her family safe. The prose is not overwhelming in this book or stand out on its own. It calmly tells the story in a way that keeps its focus on the characters. I read it steadily for three days and enjoyed every minute of it. A very, very, very, good book.

I must open this review with a simple but exclamatory "WOW!" What a story! Padma Viswanathan is a new author that has created such a wonderful, educational and eloquent fictional tale that has basis in her own family's stories. I learned quite a bit about the Indian Caste system (which I had always been curious about) and some of their customs and beliefs.

Based on the period of 1896- 1960s, the story carries the reader through the child bride, Sivakami, marrying the older Hanumarathnam. Hanumaranthnam is the local astrologist. They have 2 children, Vairum and Thangam. Shortly after Vairum is born, Hanumaranthnam dies. Sivakami is now a widow as a teen. This book explores the difficulties of being a widow so young. These customs could be judged by the Western world to be harsh and unfair to widows.

Thangam produces many children who are cared for by Sivakami and Vairum because her husband is never supportive or around enough. Vairum marries a musical genius, Vani, and creates a modern and high-class life for himself and his wife. I do not want to give too much of the story away for other readers so they can discover it themselves.

The tale details the complexities of the Brahmin caste and culture - insights into strict customs, superstitious beliefs and follows the transformation of a new generation of Brahmins that no longer feel tied to the old ways.

Although this book is a little over 600 pages, it never felt like it. I would have liked to have read it in 1 sitting, but didn't have the time. Instead it took me approximately a month to read it in small sections. But any time I had free, I spent reading the book. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next.

I will look for future works written by this author. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a good, long tale or that is interested in learning more about the caste system and Indian cultures/customs.

Give it a try. I doubt that anyone, or most readers, would be disappointed.

Viswanathan, Padma. "The Toss of a Lemon", Harcourt, 2008.

Brahman India and Generations

Amos Lassen

"The Toss of a Lemon" grabbed my attention on the first page and kept me engrossed until I closed the covers. Through one Indian woman, we get to look at the story of a changing society. Padma Viswanathan tells the story lucidly, deftly and precisely and she shows us the India that we do not know about--the Brahmins of the south of India.
Sivakami is a young widow and this book is her story. It is an epic story which spans seven decades of orthodox Brahmin ritual, of a caste system and a family of many generations and its struggles. We meet Sivakami when she is ten years old and we go through her marriage, the birth of her children, her husband's death, and her lonely widowhood. We get to know her family as well as their religious traditions and the ways of the Brahmin caste. Here is a family which is governed by religion and superstition. Modern progress and progressive ideas have no place.
Sivakami was only ten years old when she received her marriage proposal and at fourteen she moved into her husband's home. Her world consists of servants, castes, and piety. She has ten years of marriage and sixty years of orthodox Brahmin widowhood during which almost the only person she interacted with was a closeted gay manservant. She raises her children and then her granddaughter and many more. Sivakami is quite a woman.
The novel is about her family and it begins with the ancestors who are part of the Indian social caste system--specifically the Brahmin caste. They are scholarly, educated people. Marriages are arranged and matches are made by astrology. Sivakami was marries to an astrologer, Hanurmarathnam, who is also said to be a healer and he shows her how their future will be good and prosperous. However, during the birth of their son everything changes. The midwife tosses a lemon from the window as she was instructed to do in order to insure purity. When a reading of astrological charts shows something not favorable, things begin to change.
When Sivakarmi we get an interesting look at the Brahmin caste. Widows are considered pure but they also have a strange stigma and this emphasizes the cultural divide between east and west.
Here is a fascinating look at India which is free of anachronism. The reader is immediately captured. It is a different, panoramic and cultural look at Indian life.

With magical fantasy and chick-lit topping the best-seller lists, The Toss of a Lemon is a sobering, fascinating novel of India.

Sivakami is ten at the time of her proposal, fourteen when she goes home with her husband. Sivakami's is a world of bullock carts instead of cars, a world of castes and servants, a world of vegetarianism and extreme piousness.

Not only is The Toss of a Lemon the story of Sivakami's lifetime, seamlessly going to her daughter and then to her granddaughter, it's also a historical timeline between the late 1800s and the mid-1900s, where technology and ideas grow along with Sivakami's family.

This is a family timeline, reporting events and feelings. While it takes place in India, there is a strong juxtaposition between Sivakami and the melting pot of many Americans. (This lesson was probably not intended by the author, but it's lovely nonetheless.)

The Toss of a Lemon is a wonderfully written book, expanding on the important procedures and everyday dealings of the Brahman community without distending the descriptions, and boring the reader, with useless adjectives.

For a reader who loves a historical novel, for a reader who has interest in cultures other than his own, for an reader of Indian descent who wants to learn about an area of his roots ... for a reader who simply a well-written novel, The Toss of a Lemon is, quite simply, one book you're not going to want to put down.

I was surprised by the Toss of a Lemon in a number of ways. The first was sheer size. In a world of publishing quotas, you don't often see long books anymore - and for a first novel from an author, this is huge. Well over 600 pages. This can be an intimidating read, but I actually adored it. I miss books having heft in my hands. It's a quiet internal joy to know that I won't skim through it in a night or two, but have a nice month-long affair with it.

This surely is not a skimming sort of book. The detail of the family it highlights, that of Sivakami, is complex and dripping in intricate stories. It's a culture that most people reading it probably aren't familiar with in general - that of post-colonial India, just as the new industrial age began to spread there after British influence. The book is heady with mythology and culture of all sorts, and this can indeed be overwhelming. If you stick with it, you shall be rewarded by more than you can imagine. It may seem daunting to most not accustomed to reading literary books, nevermind cultural references that take time to adapt to and understand.

I will not go into great detail about the story, except to sum it up simply: the novel is about a family. It starts with the progenitors who are a part of the social system in India, the Brahmin caste, specifically, which is one populated by the educated and scholarly. All marriages are arranged, and moreover, matches are investigated by astrology as much as anything else. Sivakami marries an astrologer of note reputed to also be a healer, one Hanumarathnam, who has determined their future fate to be auspicious. This changes during the birth of his son. This is where the title of the book comes from - the midwife is told to throw a lemon from the window (due to purity and caste laws, the husband is not with the wife during birth, or may see her immediately after). With that simple throw, Hanumarathnam's life is forever changed. Time serves as a marker in astrology, and thus he does a reading of his son's charts, learning of a dire portent for his future. Ironically his son does not place much stock in superstition himself - or so he claims. He, too, is human...is Varium. Though diamond-hard like his name, he indulges when it suits him as well.

Some of the cultural aspects are startling. Sivakami's ascent into widowhood for one, and the fact that widows are considered pure, but at the same time carry a strange and bizarre stigma attached to this. The caste system is alien to most people reading this surely, and sometimes the result of it horrifying (one example in the book of when a higher-caste woman had relations with a younger male from a lower caste which ended in a very sad, and rather horrible by western standards). You see the cultural divides defended, even by people who are taken advantage of and suffer by them. Despite having been raised american and very remote from this, I came to sympathize with Sivakami. Though some of the ideas were off-putting to be sure, such as people who were untouchable and impure to the point where if I was a Brahmin they could not even touch my food, I found myself entrenched in the story. It is written so well, you find yourself carried there, whether or not you mean to be, and sympathize with characters and plights that normally you would not.

I'm trying rather hard not to reveal too many plot points, as while the book is endlessly complex, it relies on many for the "whole picture". At the end though it is a story ultimately about family, and how families are made - whether by blood or by association. Muchami was by far my favorite character, I think. In many ways I regret he was not Brahmin - for all the devotion he showed to Sivakami, he was her truest son.

I ordered this book because I had hoped it would be something like Kite Runner, but alas, I was sorely disappointed. Maybe I didn't give it enough of a chance, but I just couldn't get into it. I gave it 3 stars because I didn't want to be totally unfair, but it had a very slow beginning. Maybe when I have nothing else to read, I'll give it a go again.

This was an interesting and comprehensive novel that takes you into the lives of several generations of Indian Brahmins. This novel follows the life of the main character Sivakami though most of her life, and subsequently tells us about the lives of her children and grandchildren.

While this this supposed to be fiction, this novel was based on stories told to the author by her grandmother. And is based roughly on her grandmothers life. As other reviewers have mentioned, I too felt that I learned about India and it's culture during those time periods from this book. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect from this novel and was pleasantly surprised to find a story that was intriguing and almost begged to be read. The only reason it is 4 stars instead of 5 is because I found it a little difficult remembering who everyone was in the latter parts of the book. Of course, by that time the reader is trying to span three generations within the family as well as the families they married into, some neighbors, and friends so it is understandably confusing at times. But I would wholeheartedly recommend this book (I just wish there was a family tree!).

Most parts of the book were compelling. I loved reading about life in India in the 1800-1900s, assuming those details given were accurate. I loved the sense of home and family that was created.

However, I felt some parts of the story dragged. Varium meeting in Minister's salon and discussing politics bored me. Too many new characters were introduced at this point and I didn't know if or when I would need to know them again.

Also, I felt the book was a real 'downer'. Basically the book ends when the 'dutiful' son does something so outrageous, shocking, and hurtful that he causes the death of his grandmother and her loyal servant. At the end, the family realizes that, while he's been doing his duty to support and care for them, all along he has been despising them and has been intensely jealous of them all. He is a low, mean sort that makes everyone miserable around him.

If you want a compelling epic novel, this is not the one!

The Toss of a Lemon is about a girl's life in India and the fate of being born into certain castes. The lead character is married at 10, has two children and widowed at 18. The author provides great detail about a Brahmin widows life and the rituals of the various castes. The premise of the book is interesting, however the names of the characters as well as numerous words in the book are difficult to digest. The book is extremely long and is tedious at times. While the story line is interesting it would have been an easier read if it was not as long and detailed. Before you start reading-have time for a 600+ book.

Toss of a Lemon is an fascinating look into Indian culture and traditions over the early 1900s. The book paints a picture of the heroine's suffering while still maintaining a hopeful tone--the the book is compassionate for Sivkami's situation without becoming judgemental at the unfairness of the culture that imposes undue hardship on its women. Be prepared, the book is long and the pace is relaxed--most of the book is detail about the characters and Brahmin traditions. If you liked "Memoirs of a Geisha" or the more emotionally draining, "A Thousand Splendid Suns", you will probably like this book too.

This book covers the life of a woman, Savakami who is married at the age of 10 and that of her children and grandchildren. I enjoyed reading this book because the setting was so different then any I had read before. An eye opening look at life for women in India. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
It is a place where tradition rules, and is full of superstition. As you follow her life and that of her families you will recognize the yearnings for love and happiness. The want to do right by your family and craving for prosperity in changing times. You wish you could whisper in their ears to guide them from their choices.
What could have been better for me, the jumping from character to character, so many to keep track of jumping from view and moments in time so fast that it broke the flow and made you have to think who is speaking? About what? Some pieces seemed to belong in their own story, like the neighbor and the barber, or the really weird small piece towards the end about Mari, Muchami's wife. You'll have to read it to know what I am talking about but I can't be giving away the story. My favorite character is Janaki and would have loved having a detailed story about her and Bharati. In the end I am glad I have read it.