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Before We Visit the Goddess
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan, Priya Ayyar, Vikas Adam
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
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Publisher's Summary
A beautiful, powerful new novel from the best-selling, award-winning author of Sister of My Heart and The Mistress of Spies about three generations of mothers and daughters who must discover their greatest source of strength in one another - a masterful, brilliant tale of a family both united and torn apart by ambition and love.
The daughter of a poor baker in rural Bengal, India, Sabitri yearns to get an education, but her family's situation means college is an impossible dream. Then an influential woman from Kolkata takes Sabitri under her wing, but her generosity soon proves dangerous after the girl makes a single unforgivable misstep.
Years later, Sabitri's own daughter, Bela, haunted by her mother's choices, flees abroad with her political refugee lover - but the America she finds is vastly different from the country she'd imagined. As the marriage crumbles and Bela is forced to forge her own path, she unwittingly imprints her own child, Tara, with indelible lessons about freedom, heartbreak, and loyalty that will take a lifetime to unravel.
In her latest novel, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni explores the complex relationships between mothers and daughters and the different kinds of love that bind us across generations. Before We Visit the Goddess captures the gorgeous complexity of these multigenerational and transcontinental bonds, sweeping across the 20th century from the countryside of Bengal, India, to the streets of Houston, Texas - an extraordinary journey told through a sparkling symphony of voices.
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What listeners say about Before We Visit the Goddess
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Brenda D Maguire
- 11-29-16
Wish someone had warned me!
Any additional comments?
I generally like stories of women who struggle through to the end. I thought that's where this story was headed, but I'm left feeling that it ended before the end! I was loving the idea of the story and the cultural aspect, but found that I was lost over and over in the jumps back and forth in time and character. Perhaps it's a matter of what I want from spending time listening and/or reading a book. I want to relax, learn and finish with a few insights....feeling satisfied like after a good meal. When it's over I want to feel that the ends are tied up and I can happily move on. After finishing this book, I just feel frustrated. I will say that the writing was beautiful.
6 people found this helpful
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Performance
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- AEA
- 08-25-16
wonder story
I love the way that the author weaved together all the stories with suprizeing depth.
18 people found this helpful
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Performance
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Story
- Texastanya
- 08-27-16
Absolutely Worth a Credit
Listened to this one because it was recommended. So glad I did!! A generational saga of women - their failures and successes - seemingly unrelated, are woven together to tell a rich, and colorful tale.
20 people found this helpful
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Performance
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- Sarita
- 04-26-16
Excellent
Absolutely loved it. Beautiful writing, almost lyrical, easy reading but we so much meaning
And the reader did a pretty good job
17 people found this helpful
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- Rose-Anne Fournier-Howe
- 11-22-18
Beautiful!
I am reminded once again why Ms Banerjee Divakaruni is a favorite author. She weaves the stories of her heroines' lives ina manner that is both mystical and heartwrenching. It will make you long to revisit your family stories with your own mother and forgive her for all thst you may have foolishly held against her. A beautiful story indeed!
2 people found this helpful
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- Adrienne Richardson
- 11-22-16
A Great Read
I Loved the characters, the grandmother, mother and child.
This is another example of why we need to communicate more with our daughter's before it's too late.
The husband insecurities tore up a whole family!
what did he gain?
2 people found this helpful
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Story
- butterfliiesinFL
- 06-08-18
Loved everything about it... except one reader
This was a beautiful story and I loved listening to it. I think the readers did an excellent job... all except the voice of Tara. It was completely out of place and the reader didn't sound like she was part of the story at all, she was simply reading what was written. Very unlike the other readers who really sounded like they were a part of the story.
1 person found this helpful
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- Kwazar
- 04-21-18
Vibrant & Cultural!
incredibly in-depth stories that are all interwoven and connected throughout three generations. it's bright, intense, and beautiful.
1 person found this helpful
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- Chris
- 09-09-17
Surprising and well acted
This was not a normal purchase for me. In fact, think I got it on sale and based it purely on the clip and reviews. They led me the right way.
The acting for each person is excellent! The voices change based on age, location, and generation. You never loose the person even though the time jumping can get a bit confusing at 1 part. The voice acting really helps bring the story to life!
The story is excellent too! It does an amazing job tell the story 4 generations of women in a family which is no easy task. You see the challenges and changes each women face with amazing clarity. And it feels as if they do not short change on the details.
Will be looking for similar books by this author and with these voice actors.
1 person found this helpful
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- Mary Storms
- 06-13-17
Good read.
It's the story of multiple generations of an Asian Indian family, with changing & conflicting times & values. But it could be any family anywhere because the conflicts are created by misunderstandings, secrets, & shame. This isn't a dark story, despite loss & loneliness. I recommend it.
1 person found this helpful