The Rice Mother
 

The Rice Mother

by Rani Manicka

At the age of fourteen, Lakshmi leaves behind her childhood among the mango trees of Ceylon for married life across the ocean in Malaysia, and soon finds herself struggling to raise a family in a country that is, by turns, unyielding and amazing, brutal and beautiful. Giving birth to a child every year until she is nineteen, Lakshmi becomes a formidable matriarch, determined to secure a better... (read more)

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Most Helpful Reviews

Liked It

Teri T
  • Rated 4 stars

Family saga (is that the right word - you start with one person and follow through their life and several other generations) set in Asia (Maylasia). You meet Lakshmi in her early poverty stricken childhood, hoping that better times are on the way with her new marriage only to be filled with a foreboding sense that things are just not going to go right for her or her children for that matter. Generational curse at it's worst. Overall a good read (serious read) that leaves you with a sense...

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Didn’t Like It

Shelley
  • Rated 2 stars

This would have been a worthwhile read if only it had stopped halfway through. Once the book moves on to the second and third generations, the story line becomes increasingly weak and the writing overdramatic. The ending of the book is ridiculous and contrived. Still, if you're familiar with Malaysia, you will enjoy the sights, sounds, tastes and smells Manicka evokes thoroughout the book.

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Community:
  • Rated 4.136364 stars
Amazon:
  • Rated 4 stars
 

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