Featured on BBC-Future, Forbes, NBC-News and NBC Asian America, this biographical fiction is based on the authors' family stories of strong matriarchs who inspired "Ten Thousand Tongues."
These are stories of perseverance, and of a deep-rooted appreciation of family legacies that inspire and shape reverence to one’s culinary heritage.
This biographical fiction is about eight women who find refuge, solace, and strength in their constantly evolving relationship to family and each other, through the foods they cooked and later, the dishes they are most often remembered by. This homage captures their essence through narratives from within and around their homes, their lives intersecting briefly, as mothers and as daughters. The main characters of this book navigate the constructs of religious boundaries, between Hinduism and Judaism, and definitions of identity in India and the United States. Despite their flawed relationships, their modest kitchens create indelible memories. Their domestic life is sometimes their burden, and at other times their sanctuary, and yet, long after the kitchen fires are cold, the warmth of old-fashioned comfort foods continue to nourish both body and spirit. Their narratives lead readers through the food pathways that finally culminate in Ana’s kitchen, far away from where the stories first began. Immortalized through iconic comfort foods, eight women effortlessly manage to create a unique and lasting culinary legacy that spans many generations.
Look for a companion cookbook of the same name to pair with the novel for a completely immersive experience.
* This book is the mass market version of 'Not For You: Family Narratives of Denial & Comfort Foods (2018).
Interest keywords: cultural stories, feminist, immigrant experience, migration, immigration, food, coming of age, family, love, romance, drama.
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This following will help readers determine suitability and reading preferences.
Content / Trigger / PTSD Warnings (listed alphabetically):
Abandonment, Anti-Hindutva, Anti-Semitism, Blood, Classism, Death/ Dying, Depression, Discrimination (ethnic and other), Islamophobia, Kidnapping/Abduction (third person), Mental Illness, Racism, Riots, Violence (racially motivated), Sexism, Misogyny, Suicidal Thoughts, War (third person), Xenophobia (mild).
Ten Thousand Tongues is a bitter-sweet story inspired by real people and events, about tackling biases and discrimination, about how actions shape futures, a narrative about confidence and perseverance, about the relationships between risk and success, and the importance of family and food. Whether we like it or not, we are part of each other’s narratives. We can grow by sharing, respecting, and appreciating simple contributions: be it care, or in foods we bring to the table.
In terms of scope, it spans five generations, three time periods (pre-independence India, post-independence and industrialized India, and post-immigration), moving across Alibaug and Pezari, Kolhapur, Indore, Lunwa, Goa and Mumbai, and, finally, Atlanta. It starts with her great-grandmother in Rajasthan, who fled her village as a teenager, escaping communal violence, and ends with Ana (a character based on Godbole), who leaves India by choice to settle down abroad. Godbole chose to focus on women as “they were the keepers of traditions (foods and customs)".
Through the stories, she highlights the discrimination they faced and how they overcame challenges. The novel also touches upon life as an immigrant woman. Godbole reflects on her experience growing up in India and living in the US. The stories also feature a fair amount of food, and the role it played in their homes.
Video interview at launch of the collectors edition of 'Ten Thousand Tongues', presented as 'Not For You: Family Narratives of Denial & Comfort Foods'
