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Sister India
The exotic and suspenseful New York Times Notable BookÌýthat tells the story of an eccentric guest-house keeper in Varanasi, India, and the passions evoked by her sacred city along the Ganges
The Lonely Planet recommends the Saraswati Guest House, and meeting Madame Natraja, "a one-woman blend of East and West," as well worth a side trip. Over the course of a weekend, several guests turn up, shocked to encounter a three-hundred-some-pound, surly white woman in a sari. Then a series of Hindu-Muslim murders leads to a citywide curfew, and they unwittingly become her captives. So begins a period of days blending into nights as Natraja and her Indian cook become entangled in a web of religious violence, and their guests fall under the spell of this ancient kingdom--at once enthralled and repelled by the begging children, the public funeral pyres, the holy men bathing in the Ganges at dawn. This is a traveler's tale, a story about the strange chemistry that develops from unexpected intimacies on foreign ground. And Peggy Payne 's extraordinary talent vividly conjures up the smells of the perfume market, the rhythms of holy men chanting at dawn, the claustrophobic feel of this ancient city's tiny lanes, and the magic of the setting sun over the holy Ganges. For anyone who has harbored a secret desire to go to India and be transformed, Sister India , called "mesmerizing" byÌýGail Harris and "a modern version of E. M. Forster's classic A Passage to India " by Dan Wakefield,Ìýtakes you on this journey without ever leaving home.
The Lonely Planet recommends the Saraswati Guest House, and meeting Madame Natraja, "a one-woman blend of East and West," as well worth a side trip. Over the course of a weekend, several guests turn up, shocked to encounter a three-hundred-some-pound, surly white woman in a sari. Then a series of Hindu-Muslim murders leads to a citywide curfew, and they unwittingly become her captives. So begins a period of days blending into nights as Natraja and her Indian cook become entangled in a web of religious violence, and their guests fall under the spell of this ancient kingdom--at once enthralled and repelled by the begging children, the public funeral pyres, the holy men bathing in the Ganges at dawn. This is a traveler's tale, a story about the strange chemistry that develops from unexpected intimacies on foreign ground. And Peggy Payne 's extraordinary talent vividly conjures up the smells of the perfume market, the rhythms of holy men chanting at dawn, the claustrophobic feel of this ancient city's tiny lanes, and the magic of the setting sun over the holy Ganges. For anyone who has harbored a secret desire to go to India and be transformed, Sister India , called "mesmerizing" byÌýGail Harris and "a modern version of E. M. Forster's classic A Passage to India " by Dan Wakefield,Ìýtakes you on this journey without ever leaving home.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
18 people are currently reading
158 people want to read
About the author
Peggy Payne
15Ìýbooks26ÌýfollowersI’m a writer who dodged being a minister; I saw that my dharma, my calling, was instead to write novels about the biggest mysteries: life after death, life before death, The Other Side. I explore in fiction my metaphysical questions, with the certainty anything is possible.
I’ve spent the past 50+ years as a freelancer, with 4 novels, 2 nonfiction books, magazine and newspaper articles from 25+ countries, a few seasons as a TV reporter, copy for ad agencies, a winter in India, and my manuscript and career consulting services for writers.
Married to a now-retired psychologist (Bob Dick ), I live in a log house in deep woods in rural Chatham County, North Carolina.Plan B life in NYC. Interested in the psychic and supernatural. Still planning to learn to surf.
My novels:
MY LIFE ON EARTH AND ELSEWHERE Sixteen-year-old Darcy has an out-of-body experience and falls in love with a spirit at the same time her father is going through a more traditional religious conversion. Darcy tries to bring together life in the astral zone and in high school.
SISTER INDIA
A young woman tries to escape trouble in her American life by moving to a Hindu holy city. A NEW YORK TIMES Notable Book of the Year.
Set in Varanasi/Benares, where I spent an intense and tumultuous and wonderful winter.
REVELATION
A minister at a liberal university-town church starts hearing the voice of God. Seriously. Not a comedy. His academically-minded congregation wants him to get psychotherapy. A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW Editors' Choice.
My nonfiction: THE HEALING POWER OF DOING GOOD (co-author) and a women's clothing company history: DONCASTER: A LEGACY OF PERSONAL STYLE
I also run a consulting service for writers, offering manuscript critiques and career counsel.
Am an ardent-but-slapdash woodland gardener, kayaker, reader, magazine junkie, and crossworder
Visit me on TikTok: .peggypaynespookyauthor
On Facebook: and
On Instagram: peggypaynenovelist
I’ve spent the past 50+ years as a freelancer, with 4 novels, 2 nonfiction books, magazine and newspaper articles from 25+ countries, a few seasons as a TV reporter, copy for ad agencies, a winter in India, and my manuscript and career consulting services for writers.
Married to a now-retired psychologist (Bob Dick ), I live in a log house in deep woods in rural Chatham County, North Carolina.Plan B life in NYC. Interested in the psychic and supernatural. Still planning to learn to surf.
My novels:
MY LIFE ON EARTH AND ELSEWHERE Sixteen-year-old Darcy has an out-of-body experience and falls in love with a spirit at the same time her father is going through a more traditional religious conversion. Darcy tries to bring together life in the astral zone and in high school.
SISTER INDIA
A young woman tries to escape trouble in her American life by moving to a Hindu holy city. A NEW YORK TIMES Notable Book of the Year.
Set in Varanasi/Benares, where I spent an intense and tumultuous and wonderful winter.
REVELATION
A minister at a liberal university-town church starts hearing the voice of God. Seriously. Not a comedy. His academically-minded congregation wants him to get psychotherapy. A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW Editors' Choice.
My nonfiction: THE HEALING POWER OF DOING GOOD (co-author) and a women's clothing company history: DONCASTER: A LEGACY OF PERSONAL STYLE
I also run a consulting service for writers, offering manuscript critiques and career counsel.
Am an ardent-but-slapdash woodland gardener, kayaker, reader, magazine junkie, and crossworder
Visit me on TikTok: .peggypaynespookyauthor
On Facebook: and
On Instagram: peggypaynenovelist
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
December 10, 2008
I discovered this novel by chance and didn't expect much from it. Big surprise: it's a beautiful, fascinating and poignant story about today's India. Extremely atmospheric and very well written, it captures both the reality and the myth of what India is, especially as foreigners experience it. It's intelligent, perceptive, subtle, and it does portray a bunch of different characters as well as the place they're living in with great talent.
June 28, 2009
Once into this book, I wanted to know more about the characters. The way the author sketched out the individuals in the book through little vignettes, was effective, but at the same time, not entirely satisfying. I thought the message of love being blind to color or size, and the parallel theme of a spiritual place that is both grimy and renewing were true and unique among modern fiction. When the book was over, I wanted more. I wanted to know more about the characters' lives and what happens to them. There are moments of violence, and of fear, and of spiritual renewal weaving through the stretch of the holy river Ganga (the Ganges) that meanders and rushes through Varanasi... This was a book of real spiritual experiences, not cleaned up, but tainted by human failing and filth, as I suspect all real spiritual experience is.
February 10, 2008
A tale of an expatriot american who chooses life in India, this is a convoluted story. A series of travelers and seekers sets in motion a tale of the search for truth and illumination on the banks of mother ganga: the ganjes river.
November 18, 2017
enjoyable read, interesting complex characters.
June 30, 2019
Fascinating story - loved this book
December 9, 2020
Very slow to get going, and even after it got moving it didn't really go much of anywhere. The Big Mystery in Natraja's past, revealed very gradually through flashbacks, is exactly what you thought it was from the first flashback. The depiction of Varanasi is the best part of the book, but not enough to redeem the rest.
January 30, 2020
An engaging read no doubt with the characterization being quite compelling to continue, like being sucked by the current. Even so, the back and forth of the narration gives a stiff neck, like from watching a tennis game that never ends.
February 26, 2020
North Carolina writer
April 22, 2022
Well-written. Interesting. BUT it didn't go anywhere or make any points. Too vague for my taste.
August 22, 2024
Very atmospheric...the descriptions make me want to visit Varanasi now!
March 11, 2015
In Sister India Peggy Payne masterfully mixed her travel writing background into a novel about three guests and their fateful week staying at The Saraswati Guest House alongside the Ganges River in Varanasi, India. Each is new to India. Marie Jasper is 75 and, after the death of her husband, is seeking peace in her soul. Jill Thornton is a young businesswoman doing some sightseeing after a business meeting, and T. J. Clayton is a married man from Florida on a grant to study river pollution. The Saraswati Guest House is considered to be a worthwhile experience for adventuresome travelers, largely due to the unique perspective of the massive proprietor Madame Natraja, a 300-400 pound blonde practicing Hindu from North Carolina, who has spent the last 20 years of her life in Varanasi.
The story of the week is told from the viewpoint of Madame Natraja who has spent the past 20 years turning herself from thin to obese suppressing her feelings by stuffing herself with Indian sweets. My favorite sentence in the book is on page 271 when Madame Natraja muses to herself: "Surely there is in each life a natural process of unfoldment, like the gradual bloom and ripening of the papaya, which even the most skeptical will agree is foreordained." Maybe Payne puts these words in the book to explain why it has taken 20 years for Natraja to face her inner demons. She, her Indian cook Ramesh, and these three guests will all take a new look at their lives after the killing of a Muslim man by two Hindus just outside the guest house leads to a week of retaliations and curfews.
Sister India is a short book that provides great detail without overdoing it. While experiences are related carefully and accurately, the background details of the culture and conflicts in Varanasi are given sparingly so as to not bog the reader down in history or theology. I found myself often looking up things online that Payne mentions but does not explain. While this is not necessary to understand the story line, I found it useful to see how much research Payne did in writing this work. I recommend Sister India to those who like stories about the natural healing power of the human spirit and who enjoy a novel set in a distant place.
The story of the week is told from the viewpoint of Madame Natraja who has spent the past 20 years turning herself from thin to obese suppressing her feelings by stuffing herself with Indian sweets. My favorite sentence in the book is on page 271 when Madame Natraja muses to herself: "Surely there is in each life a natural process of unfoldment, like the gradual bloom and ripening of the papaya, which even the most skeptical will agree is foreordained." Maybe Payne puts these words in the book to explain why it has taken 20 years for Natraja to face her inner demons. She, her Indian cook Ramesh, and these three guests will all take a new look at their lives after the killing of a Muslim man by two Hindus just outside the guest house leads to a week of retaliations and curfews.
Sister India is a short book that provides great detail without overdoing it. While experiences are related carefully and accurately, the background details of the culture and conflicts in Varanasi are given sparingly so as to not bog the reader down in history or theology. I found myself often looking up things online that Payne mentions but does not explain. While this is not necessary to understand the story line, I found it useful to see how much research Payne did in writing this work. I recommend Sister India to those who like stories about the natural healing power of the human spirit and who enjoy a novel set in a distant place.
January 24, 2017
While not entirely forgettable, this novel was also not entirely memorable. This novel acts sort of like a bottleneck episode, yet it did not hold all the possibilities that I had thought it would hold.
For Natraja, her life consists of operating a guest house in Varanasi, India. It is not until the guests arrive that they find Natraja to be a four-hundred pound white woman. As the city shuts down in the wake of violence surrounding issues between Hindus and Muslims, the guest house becomes a center of awakening, irritation, and intrigue as the curfew set extends for days. There are many guests in the house, a guy studying the polluted River Ganges with a troubled marriage, an elderly woman still mourning the loss of her husband, and a young business woman so wound up she could shit a diamond. I thought that each of these characters would interact more, instead they seemed to go their own separate ways during the curfew times. And yes, while they all found their purpose or self worth or internal answers during their time in Varanasi, I really wish it had been more of a team effort.
Who I found the far most interesting was Natraja as her history slowly came out of the pages. It would have been intriguing to simply focus on her and her life. To be a woman from the southern US in love with a black man in the 1960's to being a woman operating a guest house in an Indian holy city was just astounding. Also, as someone who has always had a crappy relationship with food, I feel like Natraja's need to eat (which led to massive weight gain) could have been expanded upon. There was no real reason beyond that it was a comfort and that she loathed herself because of they way she looked. Yet she also defended herself whenever people stared and she was able to get herself out of a potentially fatal situation despite her weight. I feel like Natraja was on the right path of finding her own self, but again, I think the focus was so everywhere with the other characters that she sort of lacked in the end.
Overall, this made me want to go to India even more than I did before. Yes, despite the high population, the pollution, and the whatever else someone might say about India, it was still beautifully depicted in this novel.
For Natraja, her life consists of operating a guest house in Varanasi, India. It is not until the guests arrive that they find Natraja to be a four-hundred pound white woman. As the city shuts down in the wake of violence surrounding issues between Hindus and Muslims, the guest house becomes a center of awakening, irritation, and intrigue as the curfew set extends for days. There are many guests in the house, a guy studying the polluted River Ganges with a troubled marriage, an elderly woman still mourning the loss of her husband, and a young business woman so wound up she could shit a diamond. I thought that each of these characters would interact more, instead they seemed to go their own separate ways during the curfew times. And yes, while they all found their purpose or self worth or internal answers during their time in Varanasi, I really wish it had been more of a team effort.
Who I found the far most interesting was Natraja as her history slowly came out of the pages. It would have been intriguing to simply focus on her and her life. To be a woman from the southern US in love with a black man in the 1960's to being a woman operating a guest house in an Indian holy city was just astounding. Also, as someone who has always had a crappy relationship with food, I feel like Natraja's need to eat (which led to massive weight gain) could have been expanded upon. There was no real reason beyond that it was a comfort and that she loathed herself because of they way she looked. Yet she also defended herself whenever people stared and she was able to get herself out of a potentially fatal situation despite her weight. I feel like Natraja was on the right path of finding her own self, but again, I think the focus was so everywhere with the other characters that she sort of lacked in the end.
Overall, this made me want to go to India even more than I did before. Yes, despite the high population, the pollution, and the whatever else someone might say about India, it was still beautifully depicted in this novel.
August 10, 2016
Dreamy, hypnotic, magical, the story flowed so easily that I had a hard time putting it down. There is the main character's 1st-person narrative of what she sees, hears, thinks, feels and remembers set against the troubles of several guests in her boarding house (their parts are in your typical 3rd-person omniscient narrative). While I almost always dislike 1st-person narrative, I was captivated by this one right from the start. You are gradually exposed to the "mystery" behind the main character and at times what is past and what is present wavers back and forth in her mind with no clear-cut distinction between them. This is where the dreamy-hypnotic feeling really shines. It feels natural, like a stream of consciousness, just how my mind works. The descriptions of daily life along the shore of the Ganges River in the holy city of Benares are incredibly rich but none are extraneous. There are no lengthy descriptions of clouds, mountains, clothing, etc. that are unnecessary, such as bog down so many other novels (IMO). The images conjured up will stay with me a long time. The conclusion to the story is fitting given the style of writing, the topics presented, and the mystery behind the main character. It doesn't conclude like your average formulaic story does, but rather it simply flows on past you, the reader, as if you are standing on the shore of the river, watching the boats go by. I found myself getting teary-eyed by the beauty and promise of that. If you've liked Jhumpa Lahiri's "Interpreter of Maladies" or enjoyed the hypnotic flashback style of the cinematic version of "The English Patient," I think you'll like this one too.
March 26, 2012
What I liked best about this book are the vivid descriptions of Indian life in Veranasi. I am heading there soon and I thought it was fascinating because the author really brings the city to life. I also love the idea of foreign travelers all coming to the sacred river and finding renewal and rebirth. But I felt like the characterizations were shallow. I didn't really understand a few of the characters at all. Also, there a few sexual scenes that I thought were just completely base and unnecessary. I am not a complete prude when it comes to literature, but this just turned my stomach. It was not romantic or even pornographic...just gross, and I couldn't figure out what it had to do with anything (sexual symbolism? *yawn*). The book was heavily symbolic, but comes across heavy handed much of the time. Overall I suppose I am glad I read the book because it has prepped me in many ways to visit Veranasi, but I would not recommend it to others.
August 18, 2009
I wasn't sure what to expect when I started on this book - set in India and written by a suddi, of course I was expecting the worst. Somehow though it defied my expectation and became an "insider" book, though the success may lie in presenting the "outsider" perspective. The story revolves around a few tourists who stay in a small hotel (and I mean small) managed by an American woman who has lived in India for a very long time. Peggy Payne uses a seemingly-sparse writing style. One of the problems though is that you feel as the minute you've gotten to know some of the characters, they're gone!
September 29, 2009
I read about this book in a blog on what to read before traveling to India, which I'd like to do someday. I could see why the blog said the novel is a great intro to Varanasi because Payne certainly creates the atmosphere of a holy city on the banks of the Ganges, torn by Muslim-Hindu strife. The central character's method of putting herself into a deep freeze and her reason for doing so also came through vividly. At times, I found the flashbacks or switchbacks to the previous lives of all the characters a bit heavy-handed, but I am glad I read the book.
January 4, 2011
I picked this one up on clearance, thinking I'd broaden my reading horizons. After reading it, I realized why I stick with recommended books. Something kept dragging me to finish the book; I kept hoping that there would be some kind of storyline come out of it, some kind of conclusion, but no. The writing style was unique at times but mostly disjointed and amateur. The only thing I appreciated were the vivid descriptions of Indian life, which I guess is why I picked it up in the first place, hoping to learn a little about India.
February 23, 2013
Another book that needs a half star option!! 3.5 not 4 not 3!
I'm not sure if the setting needed to be India, I've read several books based in India and to be honest this didn't capture the feelings for me. I loved the Natraja character, you can pick up hundreds of books where Anorexia is the underlying problem but this may be the first one I've read where Compulsive Eating disorder is used. The other characters were just added extras to me, their stories were nit even close to hers, just goes to show how one decision can change so many lives.
I'm not sure if the setting needed to be India, I've read several books based in India and to be honest this didn't capture the feelings for me. I loved the Natraja character, you can pick up hundreds of books where Anorexia is the underlying problem but this may be the first one I've read where Compulsive Eating disorder is used. The other characters were just added extras to me, their stories were nit even close to hers, just goes to show how one decision can change so many lives.
April 6, 2010
I loved the imagery of the Ganges River. I like the imagery of Nataraja as Kali. I wanted to know more about Ramesh and Nataraja and less about TJ, Jill and Marie. I was confused as to why those three were included in the book at all. I gave this book 4 stars for the portions about Varanasi, not for the story.
May 10, 2016
Crazy! If you would like to feel like you are in India, read Sister India. It is a tangled story that will keep you sitting on the edge of your seat. The descriptions are so colorful, so good, that you can taste the food, and most amazing, you will think about a early morning bath in Mother Ganges. Wild, full of emotions and turmoil. Read on!
July 28, 2007
Very good book. The main character, an obese American woman running a somewhat rundown boarding house in India, is intriguing, as are the people who find their way to the boarding house. The style of writing is lyrical, and easy to enjoy.
July 20, 2012
A rather bizarre but interesting book about a woman who visits and ends up staying in India. To me, the most fascinating facet of the book is that the author lives in North Carolina and seems to have really captured an aspect of the essence of India and its culture.
February 5, 2008
Tourists caught in the cross-fire of tension between Hindus and Muslims, in the alleyways of a ghat on the banks of the Ganges in Benares, India. Excellent.
April 19, 2008
eccentric American runs a boarding house for travelers in India during civil unrest
July 8, 2008
Wow, hard to follow..never read anything with a crazy story structure like this...but I did finish. There were some thoughtful and interesting sections.
September 11, 2008
I am currently into all things Indian and this book is definitely indian. But for some reason it did not grip me completely. Sorry I can not explain it better than that.
November 10, 2008
A powerful, evocotative story on the banks of the Ganges. The characters are unforgettable. I would read this book again.
December 13, 2008
A really enjoyable book.
August 12, 2009
Got 150 pages in and still wasn't really riveted by the book. Strange narrative style that didn't necessarily enhance the storyline.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
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