After Reading "Before We Visit the Goddess"

Before We Visit the Goddess is about Sabitri, Bella and Tara – three generations of women; a grandmother, a daughter and a granddaughter.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The characters have integrity – they never falter from their essence. The book does not follow any chronological order; Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni makes us travel to and fro through decades and she does it so skilfully that instead of being cumbersome, it’s actually a pleasure to shuttle through time. The time essays each protagonist journey through life to find salvation.

What is impressive in this novel is the poetic quality of the prose. The poetry in the prose is subtle with phrases like “her thoughts whirling like a flock of startled birds”. They build up images or thoughts in your mind. Better so because the author goes deep into the minds of the protagonists. Bella has an imaginary friend, a magician. The whole episode has such a surreal quality to it that you cannot but marvel with wonder at the art of fine story telling that the author possesses.

I found many facets to the novel. Ofcourse, the underlying theme throughout is the mother daughter relationship. The mothers are not perfect here – this novel is not a fairytale. Nor are the daughters perfect.  “I didn’t know then that mothers can’t necessarily save their children, no matter how much they want to.” – Bella knows this only after she helplessly has to see her own daughter go downhill. Like all daughters, Bella turns to Sabitri, her mother for help. “I guess that’s when people call their mothers – when their world is falling apart.”

But this novel is about other relationships too. Mostly, its about life. Vipin Babu’s love is respected but never reciprocated. Forever he remains a faithful friend. Vishu loves being the elder brother to Sanjay and his wife, Bella. But Bella finds this an invasion. The interplay that follows changes everyone’s lives forever. Estranged from parents, Tara finds solace in strangers; strangers who could have almost become family.

Infact, the novel has so many underlying themes that I feel much have been left unexplored. I wish the author could have delved a bit deeper, thrown some more light into each character. Also, because I had so much expectation from this book, as I read the last page, I was left wishing for more. Unlike Chitra Banerjee Devakaruni’s other books, I found this one less thought provoking. But this said, I am happy I read this book. The story has a strong pull – it is believable and intriguing at the same time.

To my friends, I recommend this book. But I would also like to tell them that if you expect this book to fare with you as well as the author’s most popular book till now – The Palace of Illusions, you might be slightly, if not much, disappointed. Mostly because, this novel ended too soon – it left me feeling there is more to know.