Home Before the Monsoon. A Novel

In Chicago, Vijay Dalvi seems to have it all . . . an interesting job, fun co-workers, a loving family, and a beautiful American girlfriend. But back in India, his mother writes him letters reminding him it is time to come home and perform his duties as her only son. She explains that it is time for him to settle into a proper arranged marriage and to take over the day-to-day management of the family's furniture factory to give his father a break. Then Vijay meets Saraswati Srinivas, a young, first generation Indian woman. She complicates his neat division of what is Indian and what is American. As Vijay becomes more aware of the possibility of blending east and west, he begins to focus on who he truly is and what it is that he wants from his life. Inspired by those around him, Vijay sets forth on his choosen path.