Chocolate Cherry Chai [Paperback]

Young, free-spirited Maya Mubeen leaves behind the pressures of family, marriage and tradition for a life of experience and adventure  proving to herself, and her mother, that she is anything but a typical Indian girl. After diving with sharks in the Philippines and a sordid breakup amidst the bustling nightlife of Tokyo, Mayas sense of who she is  and where home is  starts to falter.

An ancient chai-making ritual holds the key to Mayas past and present, unlocking the secret lives of her mother, Nina, who lived through Idi Amins rule in Uganda, her grandmother, Nargis, forced into marriage at thirteen, her great-grandmother, Sukaina, an underground radical socialist who fled an abusive husband, and lastly, her great-great grandmother, Zainab, who left behind a luxurious life in India.

Traversing the globe and historical eras, Taslim Burkowiczs debut Chocolate Cherry Chai binds together themes of familial pressures, the immigrant experience, motherhood, love and loss into a poetic narrative.