Marriage of a Thousand Lies

Hardcover, 285 pages

Published June 13, 2017

ISBN:: 978-1-61695-790-2

Lucky and her husband, Krishna, are gay. They present an illusion of marital bliss to their conservative Sri Lankan–American families, while each dates on the side. It’s not ideal, but for Lucky, it seems to be working. She goes out dancing, she drinks a bit, she makes ends meet by doing digital art on commission. But when Lucky’s grandmother has a nasty fall, Lucky returns to her childhood home and unexpectedly reconnects with her former best friend and first lover, Nisha, who is preparing for her own arranged wedding with a man she’s never met.

As the connection between the two women is rekindled, Lucky tries to save Nisha from entering a marriage based on a lie. But does Nisha really want to be saved? And after a decade’s worth of lying, can Lucky break free of her own circumstances and build a new life? Is she willing to …

Lucky and her husband, Krishna, are gay. They present an illusion of marital bliss to their conservative Sri Lankan–American families, while each dates on the side. It’s not ideal, but for Lucky, it seems to be working. She goes out dancing, she drinks a bit, she makes ends meet by doing digital art on commission. But when Lucky’s grandmother has a nasty fall, Lucky returns to her childhood home and unexpectedly reconnects with her former best friend and first lover, Nisha, who is preparing for her own arranged wedding with a man she’s never met.

As the connection between the two women is rekindled, Lucky tries to save Nisha from entering a marriage based on a lie. But does Nisha really want to be saved? And after a decade’s worth of lying, can Lucky break free of her own circumstances and build a new life? Is she willing to walk away from all that she values about her parents and community to live in a new truth? As Lucky—an outsider no matter what choices she makes—is pushed to the breaking point, Marriage of a Thousand Lies offers a vivid exploration of a life lived at a complex intersection of race, sexuality, and nationality. The result is a profoundly American debut novel shot through with humor and loss, a story of love, family, and the truths that define us all.

1 edition

Eduardo Santiago reviewed Marriage of a Thousand Lies by S.J. Sindu

Review of 'Marriage of a Thousand Lies' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

What an infuriating book. What a beautiful, necessary book.

It’s easy to slip into the two-Americas mindset: civilized coasts and cities, barbarian South and (parts of) Midwest living brutish lives of ignorance and fear and hatred. Sindu reminds us that this is a flawed picture; that even the places we consider safest can harbor pockets of mindless evil. Consider Lakshmi: youngest of three sisters born to Sri Lankan immigrants living in Boston. Educated, intelligent, talented. Also a lesbian, with pathetically shallow parents entirely unable to accept or tolerate that, and raised in a stone-age culture in which appearances are everything and children are pawns required to keep repeating the moronic cycle: shut up, marry as arranged, breed, then drive your children through the same hell.

In Boston. In 2012. It’s galling. Also heartbreaking. Sindu gives us a chance to see the pain of having to live in such a “culture”; …

What an infuriating book. What a beautiful, necessary book.

It’s easy to slip into the two-Americas mindset: civilized coasts and cities, barbarian South and (parts of) Midwest living brutish lives of ignorance and fear and hatred. Sindu reminds us that this is a flawed picture; that even the places we consider safest can harbor pockets of mindless evil. Consider Lakshmi: youngest of three sisters born to Sri Lankan immigrants living in Boston. Educated, intelligent, talented. Also a lesbian, with pathetically shallow parents entirely unable to accept or tolerate that, and raised in a stone-age culture in which appearances are everything and children are pawns required to keep repeating the moronic cycle: shut up, marry as arranged, breed, then drive your children through the same hell.

In Boston. In 2012. It’s galling. Also heartbreaking. Sindu gives us a chance to see the pain of having to live in such a “culture”; lets us see the courage and strength needed to navigate such a toxic environment, whether it be to accept it, to hide oneself in lies, or to escape it altogether. There is no easy way out of the trap. There are, however, routes that are more dignified and fulfilling than others.

I loved that there isn’t a single male character in the book. Occasional male presences, but all of them onedimensional and with limited screen time; simply plot elements in the story. The action—and inaction—centers entirely on the women: their decisions, and the pain of living with them.