One Amazing Thing

Last updated
One Amazing Thing
One Amazing Thing.jpg
First edition
Author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
LanguageEnglish
Publisher Hyperion, Penguin Books India
Publication date
2009
Publication placeUnited States, India
Media typePrint (Hardcover, Paperback)
Pages220 (Paperback)
ISBN 9780670084524

One Amazing Thing is a 2009 novel by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. It was first published in the United States in Voice by Hyperion in 2009, and later in Hamish Hamilton by Penguin Books India in 2010. [1]

Contents

In the novel, a group of people from various backgrounds get trapped inside a visa office after a massive earthquake.

Synopsis

A group of 9 people are trapped in the visa office at an Indian Consulate after a massive earthquake hits an unnamed American city. Among them are two visa officers, Malathi and Mangalamon, on the verge of an adulterous affair; Jiang, an elderly Chinese-Indian woman and her gifted teenage granddaughter Lily; Cameron, an ex-soldier haunted by guilt; Uma, an Indian-American girl bewildered by her parents' decision to return to Kolkata after 20 years; Tariq, a young Muslim man angry with the new America; and an enraged and bitter elderly white couple named Mr. and Mrs. Pritchett.

After many attempts to find a way out of the debris that has formed around them, the group concludes that there is nothing they can do but wait for help. They ration out the little food and water that they have and try to make it last as long as possible.

As they wait to be saved − or to die − they begin to tell each other stories, each recalling "one amazing thing" in their lives, sharing things they have never spoken of before. Their tales are tragic and life-affirming, revealing what it means to be human and the incredible power of storytelling.

Characters

Style

Divakaruni drew inspiration for the book from her personal experience of being trapped in a traffic gridlock while trying to flee Hurricane Rita with her family, and witnessing the wide range of reaction exhibited by the people surrounding her.

She has revealed that she adopted a structure like The Canterbury Tales to open nine different worlds to the readers while maintaining dramatic tension using the 'current' plotline of the earthquake. [2]

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