One Amazing Thing is about a group of disparate people in the basement office of the Indian Consulate on the west coast. An earthquake collapses the building and traps them in the basement with very little food, a flashlight, slowly rising water, and no hope of rescue. Nerves are raw and they pick on each other and eventually they start fighting each other. They realize they cannot go on so they take somebody’s suggestion to each tell a story about themselves to help pass the time while they wait.
The stories are amazing and help bring these people from widely different cultures and backgrounds together. Hidden resentments between husbands and wives, parents and children, secrets, reasons, they all come out.
I give the book 3.5 stars out of 4 but hey I’m a sucker for a good story. I liked this book. I’ll be reading more by Ms. Divakaruni.
Thanks for the review, Yogi – this sounds like a book I’d enjoy, too. I’ll put it on the Kindle list.
@Barb – I’m hoping to get a Kindle of my own soon.
Hm. Native American folklore has been on my mind a lot lately. I’m about to do research on Thunderbirds. Wonder if this would be a good book for background reading? Thanks!
Oh how funny. She’s one of my favorite authors, but I had no idea about this one. Sounds interesting. I love her collection of stories in “Arranged Marriage”. I went to a talk she gave once and even got an autographed copy. Thanks for the tip!
Hi Yogi, this book sounds riveting. Thanks for the recommend.
Sounds like something I would enjoy reading, thanks for the review x