The night before Paula leaves for college, a very inebriated Kai tries to tell Paula a different version of the Ganesh story. What do you think Kai was trying to get across to her daughter?

The night before Paula leaves for college, a very inebriated Kai tries to tell Paula a different version of the Ganesh story. What do you think Kai was trying to get across to her daughter?

I had a very hard time with kai. While some may view her as a free spirit and a hippie I saw her as self indulgent and a tramp. She not only engaged with all these men and her impressionable daughter was well aware of what was happening. Her needs were more important than the needs of her child and I didn't like her very much.

I agree with irisf. It was difficult to like Kai. She certainly was the opposite of the nurturing mother that I had, and is not at all the type of mother I think anyone should be. I questioned whether Kai was truly capable of selfless love; her actions didn't much indicate that she was. Even at the end, when Kai brought the sisters together (sort of), there was no reason for the roundabout method that she used. If Kai felt genuine concern for the little girl, wouldn't she have ensured there was no ambiguity about where she was and who needed to care for her?

Kai seemed to make up stories to reflect the world the way she wanted it to be in that moment. And the endless quoting of the stories felt like a role Kai wanted to assume: the wise yogi with all the answers. But in reality, Kai had no answers.

I agree about Kai. If my memory corrects(I read a few books at a time), her childhood was not the best. Kai's parents were racist. Kai's parents were not really helpful because of Paula being mixed. I wonder what That made me wonder what else happpen to Kai in her childhood. I wonder why Kai never got professional therapy. I think Kai has a mental illness. Did she have mental illness as a teenager? Was she ever on medicine for her possible mental illness? Or did Kai grow up in time that mental illness was wrong?

I think this information is important. If Kai suffer from a bad childhood, it would explain more about her.

I am mixed. As a child, I had certain family members that hated that. When they interacted with me, it felt force. We all know how crucial a baby development is. If Paula did not receive true love from her grandparents and mom, it explains more about Paula character.

Not defending Kai. Again, I just have questions. I think she was trying to telll her daughter about either why her dad was not really around, why Kai is so broken, etc.

I think there is a message in Kai's story but I don't know what it is. I wish I did but I don't get concealed messages very well. I like things to be told straight forward and easy to understand.

I thought she was telling Paula that another important person was going to be in her life. Her baby brother.

Kai was as phony as could be. She always seemed to be on the edge of every moment. I felt her Hindu stories were a "show-off" ploy for attention. I wasn't at all fond of her, yet the author was so able to give her personality such a boost, that I felt she was more than a main character in the story. She carried it.

I loved Paula's grandmother's method of naming her!

This is the first book I have read by this author and since finishing, I have read every one of her books I can find. She is a great storyteller which is part of the book theme. The clever and unique style is just so entertaining that I wished it wasn't over. It's not classic writing, but that doesn't really detract.

I think she was telling Paula that nothing, not all the riches in the world, can replace the loss of a child and that child would never get to experience a mother's love. There also seemed to be the underlying theme
that Paula was looking for love with revenge and anger.

I thought Kai was trying to keep Paula from leaving by telling her a different version of the Ganesh story.

I am not sure that Kai was trying to relay any motherly advice or words of wisdom. I think she was a substance abuser who was delusional. Kai liked the ideas of the Hindu religion and thought she could excuse her behavior by pretending to be a free spirited Hindu since so few people around would know whether she was full of "B.S" or truly practicing the faith. However, there are a lot of phony lives on display, as the author acknowledges on page 187 when she refers to the the supposedly perfect life posts and "happy stories that MIGHT EVEN BE TRUE" on Facebook.

I agree with most of the above comments. Kai had so many problems of her own that she was not a supportive mother and hard to understand. I should probably have looked up the original of the stories, but was not that interested.