The Taste of Ginger
Written by Mansi Shah
January 1, 2022
303 pp.
ISBN: 1542031907
“Everyone wants it to be that simple. That immigrants have two homes and can seamlessly pass between them. I don’t feel that way. I feel adrift. Like I’m an outsider wherever I go.”
For Preeti Desai, life as a first-generation immigrant is full of nuance and marked by inner turmoil and family friction. Lawyer-turned-author Mansi Shah has crafted a coming-of-age story featuring raw emotions, tentative intergenerational understanding, and an evolving relationship with identity.
Preeti and her brother, Neel, spent their early childhood in Ahmedabad, India, where they enjoyed a luxurious upper-caste lifestyle. Their lives changed dramatically, however, after they immigrated to the United States when she was seven years old. She and Neel were teased at school for being Indian; one time, a man at the grocery store told her to “go back to your country,” an upsetting experience that’s still etched in her memory. Bonded by newfound struggles, the siblings made a pact to shed their Indian heritage and learn how to fit in with their American peers.
Now as an adult, Preeti continues her quest for assimilated acceptance while reckoning with family obligations and expectations. She works 70 hours a week at a law firm, determined to overcome unspoken barriers for a woman of color and make partner. When she starts dating a man who is not Indian, her parents disown her.
Despite the rift between Preeti and her parents, she can’t say no when her brother invites her to a baby shower for his wife. Outspoken, rebellious, and recently single, Preeti feels inferior compared to her sister-in-law, who seems to perfectly fit the stereotype of the traditional and obedient Indian daughter.
She uses her demanding job as an excuse not to attend the next family event, a cousin’s wedding. Truthfully, she declines because she feels ill at ease and inadequate in India. But when a family member is involved in a terrible accident, Preeti doesn’t hesitate to catch the next flight to show her support.
Fifteen years after her last visit, Preeti’s hometown feels “familiarly foreign.” As readers, we soak in Shah’s vivid sensory details that capture Ahmedabad through the eyes and mind of an adult woman revisiting the site of her early childhood memories. In the span of 303 pages, we follow along with Preeti’s candid first-person inner dialogue and character growth as she re-evaluates her relationships with her family and dual cultures.
The Taste of Ginger is a great read if Preeti’s immigrant experience resonates with you or if you relate to the ups and downs of coming into your own as an adult. Or maybe you’re looking for a title that exposes you to themes of multicultural lives. No matter what draws you to this book, The Taste of Ginger will take you on a captivating journey of introspection.
The Taste of Ginger is Mansi Shah’s first novel. Her follow-up, The Direction of the Wind, was released in 2023.
Review by Zoë Bowlus, editing assistance by Amanda Cheung.
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