Seeing Ceremony: A Novel with Recipes

Meena has always been against the idea of arranged marriage, especially after the one “seeing ceremony” she agreed to attend in order to appease her mother ended in disaster. Instead, she goes to college in America, where she not only develops a greater appreciation for the wider world, but also learns a lot about tea cultivation, knowledge that she brings home with the intention of building up her family’s plantation. On her way back to India, Meena meets Raj, a businessman whom she feels an instant connection with, but she expects she’ll never see him again. Then a financial threat rises against her family, and it seems that the only solution is for Meena to agree to an arranged marriage after all.

Seeing Ceremony: A Novel with Recipes by Meera Ekkanath Klein is a charming story of love and independence, with the delights of food and cooking woven throughout the narrative. Readers will enjoy getting to know Meena, a strong woman with a fierce sense of personal freedom that’s at war with her sense of familial duty. The descriptions of India are gorgeous, and the included tested-and-true recipes make this book a true feast for all the senses.