I picked up Salaam, Paris by Kavita Daswani as a sale book, so I didn't have big expectations. It's about Tanaya, a young Muslim Indian woman who's always dreamed of living in Paris. When her family wants her to marry a Muslim man living in Paris she agrees to go meet him, but instead turns her back on the arrangement and lives an independent life, eventually becoming a fashion model. The usual conflicts arise--feeling torn between her traditional upbringing and her bikini-clad magazine spreads, as well as re-meeting the man she was supposed to marry and finding herself falling in love with him.This book was so good, and so bad. I didn't mind the fantasy setting, Tanaya's quick rise to fame etc., because other elements were realistic, such as the shocked reaction of her family, and her own torn feelings. I liked that she maintained her moral standards throughout, and the book avoided a lot of "overnight success story" clichés. I also liked that Tanaya missed her family, that she missed India, and she wasn't wholly enamored of this new lifestyle--she didn't turn overnight from a shy, obedient granddaughter to a Paris Hilton, or a western-style feminist.BUT. I still kept waiting for her to change. The movie that makes Tanaya want to go to Paris is Sabrina, but surprisingly the author doesn't give her the same sort of transformation as Sabrina went through. While I didn't expect Paris to fulfill Tanaya's fantasies, I thought it, or her new life, would fulfill her in some other, unexpected way. How can someone go from living the life of a child, on an allowance, with a very narrow future ahead of her--and she was never particularly rebellious--to being extremely wealthy, with enough money to do whatever she'd like with her life, and not experience Something? Surely she would have changed in terms of confidence? Feeling something new flower in her? Wouldn't she find out something important about herself? Instead, she felt like the exact same person throughout. She didn't like other people telling her what to do, but never rebelled against them (with one lame exception at the very end); and it never really felt like she was enjoying herself. Daswani never described Tanaya's experiences in Paris in a way that made me want to go to Paris. And in fact, half the book takes place in New York, which was disappointing and seemed unnecessary to the plot.So while I loved the book for the first three quarters, my opinion crashed in the last quarter, when I realized there weren't going to be any interesting epiphanies. This is also when the almost-a-fiancé re-enters the picture. She falls instantly for him, though it's hard to understand why; and he suddenly becomes the center of her universe. She realizes she should have just married him in the first place, which is frankly the same thing I'd wondered at the beginning of the book--why wouldn't a conservative girl, who wants to live in Paris, not agree to an arranged marriage to a man who lives in Paris? (In other words, the author didn't convince me that this person, this character, had reason enough to rebel against this marriage.)The last quarter of the book is a flat out mess--rushed, disingenuous, and finally clichéd. A book that could have been light yet subtly moving, instead turned out to be a 1980s Harlequin. Color me: Le Disappointed.
Well as the story began i thought the protagonist was living in a sexist patriarchal muslim society. But then as the story progressed she wanted to do more than be just a "bride". She becomes a model and achieves enormous name and fame. But still, i guess, it had been instilled in her that the whole reason of her existence was to serve her husband. So she just abruptly leaves her career for a male chauvinistic pig who at one point confesses his love and then the next moment his cowardly act of just desolating her for some weird reason. I get that its important to listen to our elders. But, when you are an adult and have lived 30 years of you life already don't you have a little bit of thinking power of your own? At least to not agree when you know that someone is not right. Then, trust his guts, he comes back to her and actually accuses her for going back to her career? Like seriously!! And yet still the girl leaves her career, yet again. The career that helped her be independent, the career that helped her to not be shattered the day some coward decided that he cannot be with her cause of what his "grandfather" thinks and says, the career that was well pretty much the entire book except the last 5 pages where it suddenly ends. The ending pretty much sucked!I had high expectations from this book and was honestly disappointed.
What do You think about Salaam, Paris (2006)?
I usually enjoy Daswani's light hearted tales of cultural confusion and Salaam Paris was no exception, however, I felt it was one of her weaker efforts. Tanaya is an innocent Muslim girl thrown into the glamorous world of high fashion and modeling after escaping an arranged marriage. I think I enjoyed this one less as usually, Daswani's heroines are average Indian transplants who luck into unusual opportunities.The characters in this book are more over the top and less sympathetic. That said, this is yet another fun, read by the pool summer novels and worth a read just for that!
—Susan Williams
Salaam, Paris centers on Tanaya Shah, a nineteen-year-old Muslim girl living in India, who is about to enter into an arranged marriage...or so her family believes. However, Audrey Hepburn has made Tanaya long for something more. After seeing the movie Sabrina, Tanaya is desperate to see Paris and be "of the world", just like Audrey's title character in the movie.Under the guise of meeting with her future husband, Tanaya is able to leave for Paris with the blessing of her family. But, once there, she manages to drop her marriage engagement and also, her plans to return to India. Tanaya's life begins to look pretty unrecognizable as she continues to search for the "Sabrina moment" that she desires.The book had plenty of great suck-you-in moments, but unfortunately, a lot of the plot was pretty flimsy. A decent, quick read...not much more. I really think it would work better as a movie.
—Charity
This is my "romance" selection for the WBC. I like learning about Muslim culture so I can understand better where they're coming from and what traditional values have been established. This book leans heavily on the woman's connection to her family and the choices that she makes to affect that relationship. At some point the woman falls for the man with whom she had an arranged marriage but refused to marry. (Don't worry, that spoiler is on the cover!) It's fun to read about the author's imagined life of an accidental supermodel, which made the rest of the story bearable. I felt the writing was at least as good as any other chick-lit- maybe better because I actually finished it. :)
—Ashley (cnthrdlywt2bwz)
