I picked the book up on a secondhand book sale and was intrigued by the spices which, in retrospect, should have been the protagonists in the tale! But I always enjoyed the magic flavors of the huge Asian spice markets in South Africa, where it is exhibited in heaps and weighed on ancient scales. The memories of going to the Indian markets on a Saturday morning buying flowers, fruit, vegetables and magical spices, combined with an everlasting curiosity about other cultures and stories, got me bowing to the will of The Mistress of Spices. The book yelled at me to buy it, so to speak, and I gracefully surrendered :-)You've got to believe a little bit in magic and fairy tales for this book. But there is enough realism embedded in the story to keep you captured. Add a cup of mysticism and a few pinches of romance, and you've got the Spice shop in Oakland California. From the outside it is just another shop from an old Indian immigrant lady selling them. However, it is soon clear that these spices are not only the exotic, culinary delights of the Indian cuisine that we love.The lady of the shop's story begins in India a few centuries before where she is born as Nayan Tara, not the prettiest of the children, a gifted child who dominates the household since her magic powers enriches the family in their small village near the river. She has difficult relationships with her family and wishes to remove herself from the situation. She is kidnapped by pirates who soon submit themselves to her control, calling her their Queen. She lands up on an island where she becomes an apprentice Mistress of Spices. Her name changes to Tila. She get to know the secret powers of spices and that she will only be able to use those powers if she submits to the will of the spices.It is with this name that she transcends into the modern world and opens the grocery shop in Oakland.There were strict rules in keeping her magic powers. She knows that... "A good hand is not too light, nor too heavy. Light hands are the wind's creatures, flung this way and that at its whim. Heavy hands, pulled downward by their own weight, have no spirit. They are only slabs of meat for the maggots waiting underground." She was to not only serve and assist the immigrants from India, but she was never to leave the shop or get involved in her customer's lives. It worked quite well for her and her regular customers, such as the Geetha family, Lalitha, Haroun, Jagjit, Mrs.Ahuja. But she has a rebellious nature and soon does the same for all her non-Indian customers as well. She listens to their life stories and mixes spices for them which enhances or change their lives completely. She is dignified, respectful, aloof and subtely demands it in return. She also tried to control her impatient nature in some incidences.Then an attractive man, Raven, half white, half Native American - "The American" - as she calls him, enters the shop. His grandfather bestowed on him some mystical powers which his mother denied him. He soon spills his guts to her about his childhood and his mother, which is vastly different from the life she knew, a totally different culture, yet a similar kind of gifted background. Due to his background he was able to recognize the beautiful young woman in the old lady's body.Her sense of adventure as well as her rebellious nature kick in. She cannot resist his charm which he relentlessly bestow on her and the magic of a very different kind begins......"I tell myself, I deserve dignity, I deserve happiness."She does not lose her magic abilities, only the power over the outcomes. The potions turn nasty, one mixture of chillies causes and earthquake when she tries to destroy it in the river. Having the gift of magic does not mean that she is happy and when she tries to control her own destiny or make her own choices the repercussions are heavy. "My fault, my fault. A refrain so many women the world over have been taught to sing."The potion which she mixes for herself to become a beautiful young woman for a day, works for her and Raven. However, she has to choose between a happy, yet short life with him, or remain the Spice mistress forever...It is a light read, a interesting blend of realism, magic, and a modern fairy tale. It is not a perfect tale. Thankfully it does not have the surreal, earth-shattering end where the hero runs along a national highway, jumping over cars, causing accidents, yelling as he speeds along "Tilla I love you, don't go!" - which have the entire American nation happily deserting their cars on the highway, causing monumental traffic jams and serious accidents; having pedestrians, joggers and old bag ladies leave their beloved possessions and running along to finally become a stadium full of happy clappie love-sick optimists roaring their encouragement when he stops the plane from leaving and the happy girl joyously jumps his bones, causing him to fall down and happily break a few ribs and a hip while the crowd cheers and blissfully burst out in tears. No, it is not that kind of story at all!It also won't dramatically change your life either, but will leave you with a feeling of growing old is inevitable, but growing up is optional. Sometimes we just have to release that innocent young girl in ourselves who never actually deserted us and have her day in our minds. The "Mistress of Spices" is a delightful blend of historical Indian mysticism, modern realism, cross-cultural interpretation of life and experiences, immigration issues and magic. If you are open for spice adventures, told in a dignified, slow motion, the little girl in you will enjoy this book on a sunny lazy day out in the fresh open air ;-)I can promise you one thing, though. You will fall in love with spices all over again!
Bits of magic, fantasy, folk remedies, herbal information, cultural studies of the lives of immigrants from India living in Oakland in the 1980’s (prejudice, violence), and wish-fulfillment highlight this book by an author whose book of short stories, “Arranged Marriage,” I truly enjoyed. She’s a gifted author whose work is for all, but this book is definitely ‘chick lit” – not that there’s anything wrong with that!There are dozens of reviews so I won’t elaborate on plot points but will explain why I gave it only 3 stars. First, in the beginning the main character is a sad little girl who isn’t attractive and so her parents are cold and unloving. When she is known to have otherworldly gifts, her family and the townspeople who were so cruel begin to revere her and she orders them about like servants, answering cruelty with cruelty. Later in the story as she explains her inner thoughts, we are whiplashed between the poor little victim persona and the guilt-ridden, but not quite repentant, arrogant young teen. Which is it that explains anything at all in the current role of crone in the spice store? Second, the peripheral characters are introduced so slowly that a reader can forget their names and stories before they finally return to importance. That glitch could have been easily fixed in a rewrite.Third, there was much repetition, same thoughts, same sentences, over Tilo’s angst about her decisions while in training. There is more when her awakened human desires conflict with her current role as a selfless immortal; she struggles over using her powers so that she can have something she wants for herself. Fourth, the love story between the sexy young male and Tilo the crone was far down the line of incredibility even for a “fantasy.” It was enjoyable as female wish-fulfillment, though. Then her see-sawing over what to do with him and the relationship was tedious. I liked developments in the last chapters, especially her help for the peripheral characters, but in advance I knew her “transformation” would involve an earthquake, perhaps because I live near the epicenter of the 1989 earthquake in this area. Tilo’s submission to whatever fate would come was admirable and justifies her redemption. Tilo’s decision concerning her lover touches on a theme best expressed in Sara Teasdale’s poem “Barter,” especially the last 6 lines.BARTER By Sara TeasdaleLife has loveliness to sell, All beautiful and splendid things,Blue waves whitened on a cliff, Soaring fire that sways and sings,And children's faces looking upHolding wonder like a cup.Life has loveliness to sell, Music like a curve of gold,Scent of pine trees in the rain, Eyes that love you, arms that hold,And for your spirit's still delight,Holy thoughts that star the night.Spend all you have for loveliness, Buy it and never count the cost;For one white singing hour of peace Count many a year of strife well lost,And for a breath of ecstasyGive all you have been, or could be.
What do You think about The Mistress Of Spices (1998)?
I totally wanted to like this, and I did starting out...but 1/3 of the way through I just felt the pace slow to the speed of molasses, or maybe ghee if we're going to be culturally accurate.Tilo travels through time from a magical island to a spice shop in Oakland, where she gives out magic potions to other Indians but is supposed to let everyone else suffer through life on their own. (Yeah, that's the premise.) Then she meets a handsome American who appears to see how beautiful she is under her disguise of an old woman, and they fall in love, or something. I didn't get that far.I like Indian food and cooking so the writing was appropriately exotic, and I didn't know what kalo jire was until I looked it up and realized it's what we call nigella and I have some in my cupboard right now. I doubt, though, it'll reduce my pain and/or suffering.
—Rachel
Namaku Nayan Tara..seorang anak yang lahir tapi sudah membuat orangtuaku kecewa..karena lahirnya anak perempuan lagi berarti membawa beban utang maskawin kelak jika kumenikah..aku mempunyai kemampuan istimewa..dan hal ini yang menyebabkan orang-orang datang berdatangan kepadaku..mereka memujaku dan menyebarkan cerita tentang kekuatanku ke semua negeri saat mereka melintasi samudera..Dengan cara itulah para bajak laut mendengar tentang diriku..Namaku Nayan Tara..dan hanya tinggal beberapa saat lagi aku menyandang nama tersebut..Nasib sang gadis kini..Aku adalah penguasa rempah-rempah..aku juga menguasai yang lainnya.mineral, logam, tanah, pasir serta batu. Tetapi rempah-rempahlah yang paling kusukai..aku tahu asal-usulnya, makna warnanya, dan baunya. .Namaku Tilo, kependekkan dari Tilottama. Aku dinamakan seperti biji wijen yang terpanggang sinar matahari, rempah penuh gizi..dan mereka tidak tahu..para pelanggan ku tidak tahu..bahwa dahulu aku pernah bernama Nayan Tara..Aku bukan lagi gadis muda belia..sejak kuputuskan untuk terjun ke api Shampati..untuk bersumpah menjadi Penguasa..aku bukan lagi diriku..aku menjadi nenek tua renta dan hidupku abadi..Bunda Utama..Tetua Pulau..tempatku tinggal untuk menjadi penguasa..mengatakan:”Dirimu tidak penting . Tidak ada penguasa yang penting. Yang penting adalah toko. Dan rempah-rempah.”Dan disinilah sekarang kuberada..SPICE BAZAAR..nama tokoku..kami para calon penguasa rempah disebar keseluruh penjuru dunia..kutinggalkan Pulau demi toko ini, tempat aku mengumpulkan semua yang kubutuhkan demi kebahagiaanmu..Sampai datang seorang pria..Raven..ia bisa melihat sosok sejatiku..bukan nenek tua renta yang selama ini dilihat oleh pelangganku..aku terpikat padanya..aku mulai jatuh cinta padanya..dan aku mulai melupakan janjiku dahulu untuk menjadi penguasa rempah-rempah..
—Michiyo 'jia' Fujiwara
Wow! Definitely one of my favorites so far, this year. Spices have been a significant part of the Indian culture for around 3,000 years. These spices bind together, the culinary diversity of the nation. From aromatic cardamom to piquant chilies and from pungent mustard seeds to smoky cumin, Indian spices are well known for their medicinal properties as well as their strong flavors. The author, has done a remarkable job of portraying the importance of these spices in the protagonist, Tilo’s life. One of the reason’s I really liked this book was because I often cook with my mom, so I am familiar with the spices and their unique roles, which helped me relate to Tilo. I think one message behind this book, is that once you devote yourself to something, you must not cross certain boundaries, or you would have to face the consequences. In this case, Tilo’s boundary was her spice shop and she was punished once she stepped out of it. She was also told to never use the spices to fulfill her own desires, because the spices were only to help others, however she did and was then punished. Along with this, I think the book was based on the idea of immigrants clinging to their culture in a foreign and.One requires full acceptance of his/her own way of life and philosophy to avoid feeling inferior to anyone else. Overall, it was beautiful crafted book and I it really liked it!
—Poorvi Singh
