For Ganesh, Remover of Obstacles

Sushila is an affluent New Yorker of Indian descent disillusioned with corporate America. She drops out of the rat race to "find herself" but instead discovers her mother's hidden past as a devotional Indian dancer who defied her family to pursue her dreams. As Sushila uncovers the events of her mother's extraordinary life, she comes to understand the indomitable spirit propelling the woman who shaped her own character. What caused a mother to mysteriously escape a prearranged marriage, defying her duty to her parents? How did she become the first woman at Princeton? Why does she so guardedly conceal her impressive history? And is her daughter destined to follow in a mother's rebellious footsteps? At once a celebration of mothers and daughters and a tribute to the unacknowledged helpers who smooth the paths of our lives, "Ganesh" spans decades, cultures and continents, traversing the rise of Gandhi in India through post-colonialist England into segregated 1950s America with uncommon wit and inordinate sensitivity. A gorgeously wrought story that weaves magical realism into historical fiction, "Ganesh" explores the challenges faced by independent spirits breaking from the rigidities of tradition and eloquently evokes the role of the "unseen hand" in choreographing the dance of life.