SALAAM, PARIS

Author: Kavita Daswani ISBN: 0452287464 7/2006 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: PLUME

Tanaya Shah longs for the wonderful world of Paris, the world that she fell in love with while watching Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina—so when a proposal comes along for an arranged marriage with a man who is living in Paris, Tanaya seizes the chance. But once she lands in the city, she shuns the match. A stroke of luck turns Tanaya into a supermodel, and soon the traditional girl is cavorting with rock stars and is disowned by her family. In her new whirlwind life, she is reintroduced to the man she was supposed to marry, the man she now realizes she should have never walked away from, the man who is her only connection to the family she longs to reconcile with, if only it’s not too late.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

I found myself very frustrated by Salaam, Paris. There is no doubt that Kavita Daswani is an excellent writer, and that the book is interesting and entertaining. You have to suspend reality, certainly, realizing this is a Cinderella tale. I doubt too many supermodels find it this easy to make it to the top, or do it this accidentally. At least America's Next Top Model makes it look harder than this! But the ending of this book is such a cop out. There is no resolution of the central issues of the novel—we just fade out and a final chapter is plopped on with a so-called happy ending.

The issues in this novel are real and compelling. The heroine, Tanaya Shah, is a devout Muslim girl from India. At the age of nineteen, she sets off for Paris, ostensibly to meet her future husband, but instead, sort of passive-aggressively gets out of the marriage and starts a modeling career. Most of her family disowns her, and she is hurtled into the land of celebrity with the aid of shockingly honest handlers. Eventually, she meets her ex-fiance again. Certainly there is a level of comfort involved in a relationship with someone of a shared background. But her background was emotionally sterile and fairly abusive, both physically and mentally. In the world that is open to you as a wealthy young person, do you really have to end up with someone so judgmental? I agree that this is the sort of behavior I, as a single girl, dealt with when dating any man of active conservative faith, whether Christian or Muslim, but why embrace it, give up your career, and end up back where you started less than two years later?

I don't think the author has an answer either, which is why there is no explanation, just the tacked on ending.

By all means, however, read the book. It's thought-provoking.

Heather Hiestand