The Mistress of Spices

In most cities there is a small Indian spice shop where an old lady serves the customers, to get Indian food stuffs, but also with their worries, sorrows, fears and problems. These “mistresses of spice” are trained on a tiny spice island somewhere, and they have rules, strict rules... they are there just to serve the spices, to act as a bridge between the spices wisdom and the humans. One may not touch the customers. One may not leave the shop. One may not help non-Indians. One may not look into a mirror. And one must obey the spice without questions.
Tilo breaks every rule, and pays for it.

I enjoyed it, but it was also irritating. I enjoyed the characters. I enjoyed Tilo's story. I enjoyed the spices. It was original and interesting, fascinating, inspiring, giving me a lot of story ideas. What was irritating was that I didn't believe Tilo's motifs and reasoning. I don't believe people change that much during their lifetime. We learn to control our virtues and vices, don't develop totally new ones. I believe everything we do is based on who we are, and that that is present already when we are 5.

But, it was good. I liked it more than didn't :-D

BTW, I wanted to read this book because I saw the movie. Go read the movie description after you have read the book. Aishwarya Rai, one of the most beautiful women ever lived. I'm glad I saw the movie first. Had I read the book first, I would have hated the movie :-D