Recipe for PersuaSion by Sonali Dev

Last updated on April 4, 2021

I often find myself talking about the books that I have read, am reading, plan to read. I have this idea to create a Book Society where I talk about books with friends. My idea is that we will talk about whatever we are reading, and discuss interesting concepts with each other, whether or not we’ve read the same book. This idea persists for me as one to implement in the future. In the meantime, I’ve organized a book club because I wanted to read and discuss Race After Technology with other people..

A few weeks ago, a friend and I went for dinner. I shared that I had started Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev. I thought it was a contemporary take on Jane Austen’s persuasion but I wasn’t sure.

She summarized the book for me. In Austen’s version, a man and woman rediscover each other years later, when she is already “on the shelf”. They were each other’s first love but broke up and don’t see each other for years before ending up back together again.

Yes, Recipe for Persuasion is a remake of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. This version is set in LA with Ashna, a thirty year old single woman, and Rico, a single man of the same age. Ashna was born in India and Rico in Brazil. They both end up in LA at the same high school, two misfits who fell in love. They were completely entwined with each other until life events and family allegiances tore them apart.

Years later, Rico is a retired football player, forced to retire due to a recent injury and Ashna is a chef at the family restaurant. They meet again when paired up in a cooking competition. Surrounded by a national audience, competitors, family and friends, they carve out space to heal old wounds.

I will probably read the old version of Persuasion someday. I enjoyed this remake, the way it centered representation as ordinary while illustrating social issues and the immigrant experience.

If you’re looking for an engaging read, give Recipe for Persuasion a chance. However, don’t be mislead. This book isn’t a simple romcom; it deals with lots of weighty issues – mental health, suicide, abandonment and neglect, emotional abuse, marital rape, failure, reconciliation. There is a major storyline between Ashna and her mother, Shobi, as well as between Shobi and Bram, Ashna’s father. One or my favorite storylines in the book is how the women care for and support each other. This is contrary to the usual tale of women in competition with each other and the wicked mother-in-law.

This is a story of love and true friendship. It’s about going beyond survival to making a transformation in the world. It’s also about identity and choosing the narrative of your life. Dev gives her characters rich, full histories and lives. Recipe for Persuasion might be just the book that feeds your spirits. I give this book 4 stars.

Note that this is the second book in a series but the only one I’ve read.