Anne Benjamin

Saffron and Silk Anne Benjamin

A journey of love, idealism, challenges, rich with the pungent spices of India. The story of the Australian country girl who marries her Indian idealist renews your faith in humanity. It's a beautiful read that opens your mind and senses to new ideas embracing inclusion. Susanne Gervay OAM Readers follow a new bride's journey into a new family and their origins in Kerala, India, and into some of the rich culture of Tamil legends and history. She shares her struggles and frustrations as a 'foreign wife' and her insights into the micro details of everyday life and the macro challenges of poverty and social justice. The story is set within the annual cycle of religious feasts and festivals around which life in India turns and presents some of the startling aspects of Indian society and recent history. The author has a direct connection with every story in this book and she uses her personal experience to explore larger issues of India's culture and history, making Saffron and Silk a personal insider story of some of the treasures and dilemmas of a country that is increasingly significant to contemporary Australia. If you want to understand India, make the world a better place, and fall in love, then this is a book for you. James Carleton, journalist, ABC