Being a big fan of Jane Austen and always willing to give an adaptation of her work a try, I was excited to come across The Rajes series by Sonali Dev. There are currently four books in the series, which conveniently cover the four Austen books I am most fond of. I was able to get the first one from the library recently and read it over the last week of last year. I have to say this was one of the best adaptations of Pride and Prejudice I have ever read.
Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors tells the story of Dr. Trisha Raje, a San Francisco neurosurgeon from a successful Indian American family. She is at the top of her game professionally but has had a strained relationship with certain members of her family following something that happened while she was in college. At a dinner for her brother, who has political aspirations, she meets DJ Caine, an up-and-coming chef who has left a position at a top restaurant to help his sister Emma, who is in San Francisco for surgery with none other than Dr. Raje.
Their first meeting does not go well, of course. The rest of the book is a masterful exposition of how their relationship develops, despite their continued clashes and misunderstandings, against the backdrop of high-stakes medicine and sumptuous food. We also get an intimate view of the dynamics in both families.
I enjoyed this book greatly and am looking forward to the next one in the series, Recipe for Persuasion.
In So Many Words 