From the acclaimed author of A Breath of Fresh Air, this beautiful novel takes us to modern India during the height of the summer’s mango season. Heat, passion, and controversy explode as a woman is forced to decide between romance and tradition. Every young Indian leaving the homeland for the United States is given the following orders by their parents: Don’t eat any cow (It’s still sacred!), don’t go out too much, save (and save, and save) your money, and most important, do not marry a foreigner. Priya Rao left India when she was twenty to study in the U.S., and she’s never been back. Now, seven years later, she’s out of excuses. She has to return and give her family the news: She’s engaged to Nick Collins, a kind, loving American man. It’s going to break their hearts. Returning to India is an overwhelming experience for Priya. When she was growing up, summer was all about mangoes—ripe, sweet mangoes, bursting with juices that dripped down your chin, hands, and neck. But after years away, she sweats as if she’s never been through an Indian summer before. Everything looks dirtier than she remembered. And things that used to seem natural (a buffalo strolling down a newly laid asphalt road, for example) now feel totally chaotic. But Priya’s relatives remain the same. Her mother and father insist that it’s time they arranged her marriage to a “nice Indian boy.” Her extended family talks of nothing but marriage—particularly the marriage of her uncle Anand, which still has them reeling. Not only did Anand marry a woman from another Indian state, but he also married for love. Happiness and love are not the point of her grandparents’ or her parents’ union. In her family’s rule book, duty is at the top of the list. Just as Priya begins to feel she can’t possibly tell her family that she’s engaged to an American, a secret is revealed that leaves her stunned and off-balance. Now she is forced to choose between the love of her family and Nick, the love of her life. As sharp and intoxicating as sugarcane juice bought fresh from a market cart, The Mango Season is a delightful trip into the heart and soul of both contemporary India and a woman on the edge of a profound life change. From the Hardcover edition.

Sareen is attending her first sit-up, a Jamaican tradition that celebrates the life of a loved one who has died. The whole village has come to share memories of Sareen’s Nana. Sareen wants to tell her stories of Nana’s last mango season and their search for the perfect mango, but she’s afraid the words won’t come or that she’ll begin to cry. It’s only when Sareen faces her fear that she realizes it’s not the sadness of Nana’s death that she’ll remember best but the joy of Nana’s life. Set amid the rich culture and lush scenery of Jamaica, this moving book offers the hope of rediscovering joy after a loss and pays tribute to the remarkable power of story: to touch, to connect, and to heal.

On the night of December 3, 1984, Anjali waits for her army officer husband to pick her up at the train station in Bhopal, India. In an instant, her world changes forever. Her anger at his being late turns to horror when a catastrophic gas leak poisons the city air. Anjali miraculously survives. Her marriage does not. A smart, successful schoolteacher, Anjali is now remarried to Sandeep, a loving and stable professor. Their lives would be nearly perfect, if not for their young son’s declining health. But when Anjali’s first husband suddenly reappears in her life, she is thrown back to the troubling days of their marriage with a force that impacts everyone around her. Her first husband’s return brings back all the uncertainty Anjali thought time and conviction had healed–about her decision to divorce, and about her place in a society that views her as scandalous for having walked away from her arranged marriage. As events unfold, feelings she had guarded like gold begin to leak away from her, spreading out into the world and challenging her once firm beliefs. Rich in insight into Indian culture and psychology, A Breath of Fresh Air resonates with meaning and the abiding power of love. In a landscape as intriguing as it is unfamiliar, Anjali’s struggles to reconcile the roles of wife and ex-wife, working woman and mother, illuminate both the fascinating duality of the modern Indian woman and the difficult choices all women must make. From the Hardcover edition.

"Raw, green, sour and crunchy. Or ripe, golden, plump and soft. Summer time is mango time, a time children wait for -- blazing sun, sticky mango juice ringing their mouths and dripping down their fingers"--Page 4 of cover.

In a remote corner of West Africa, Monique Dembele saved lives and dispensed hope every day in a place where childbirth is a life-and-death matter. Monique and the Mango Rains is the compelling story of the authors decade-long friendship with Monique, an extraordinary midwife in rural Mali. It is a tale of Moniques unquenchable passion to better the lives of women and children in the face of poverty, unhappy marriages, and endless backbreaking work, as well as her tragic and ironic death. In the course of this deeply personal narrative, as readers immerse in village life and learn firsthand the rhythms of Moniques world, they come to know her as a friend, as a mother, and as an inspired woman who struggled to find her place in a male-dominated world.

"Jen's nickname, Mango Mama, could not be more appropriate! She uses mangos in the most unexpected ways, both in savory and sweet recipes. With this book in hand, you will never look at a mango the same way again."--Ingrid Hoffmann, host of the Food Network's Simply Delicioso "Karetnick gives mango all the passion and poetry it's due. Delicious."--Ellen Kanner, Huffington Post "A mango bible. Great recipes, delightful prose--everything you need to know about this luscious fruit."--Linda Gassenheimer, author of Dinner in Minutes: Memorable Meals for Busy Cooks "With her poet's eye, journalist's passion for accuracy, and her home chef's skills, Karetnick shares a surprisingly wide-ranging book. I hold my drink up high to her, and, of course, it is a mango daiquiri!"--Norman Van Aken, James Beard Award-winning chef, founder of Norman's at The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes "Karetnick has written the book for those of us who love the mighty mango."--John Tanasychuk, South Florida Sun-Sentinel "As a transplanted Miamian living in mango tree-less NYC, I savored the delicious recipes and relished in the evocative stories as only Jen can tell."--Lourdes Castro, author of Latin Grilling: Recipes to Share, from Patagonian Asado to Yucatecan Barbecue and More "The definitive mango cookbook, bursting with decadent recipes that will keep you sated from dawn 'til dusk! Peppered with personal anecdotes and joined by the voices (and recipes!) of Miami's most celebrated chefs, Jen Karetnick's Mango is an absolute must for any lover of this sweet, beloved, tropical fruit."--Marie Elena Martinez, founding editor, The Latin Kitchen "Who knew mangos could be used so many ways! This fruit we love as is will now make its way into many of our meals at home!"--Bill Telepan, author of Inspired by Ingredients: Market Menus and Family Favorites from a Three-Star Chef Join Miami's Mango Mama, Jen Karetnick, for a culinary tour of all things mango. She invites you into her home, the Mango House, where many of these luscious recipes were created. She introduces you to the Mango Gang, a group of world-renowned chefs including Allen Susser and Norman Van Aken. These chefs make frequent use of the bounty from Jen's ninety-year-old trees in their Miami restaurants, and in Mango, they share some of their favorite recipes. Karetnick discusses the best methods for picking, preparing, and eating mangos and shares expert tips on how to dehydrate and freeze them so you can enjoy this delicious fruit year-round. The easy-to-follow, exquisite recipes run the gamut from smoothies to cocktails, from mango blintzes for breakfast to jerked grouper with mango-fig chutney for dinner, and from mangría (mango-flavored sangría) to mangospacho (mango-infused gazpacho). If you're looking for a tantalizing hint of mango in your dish or a tropical explosion of flavor, this book has just the right recipe for you.

Priya Rao left India when she was 20. Seven years later, she returns to find her parents are intent on arranging her marriage to a suitable Indian boy. Priya can only guess at what their reaction would be if she were to reveal she has a fiance in America, a fiance of an entirely different religion.