Chapter 20 Summary and Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

Kira Banerjee asks Amy to be a bridesmaid, and Amy accepts even though it means attending multiple celebrations with eleven other women. When Kira asks if Amy wants to bring a date, Amy declines because Ian ended their relationship via answering machine after an old college love rekindled.

Over three days at Kira's parents' home on Long Island, Amy grows fond of the other bridesmaids—a CEO, a litigator, stay-at-home moms, a PhD candidate in astrophysics, a physical therapist, a documentarian, and an insurance auditor. Kira introduces Amy as her Caucasian friend, and the women fuss over her, helping her tie her sari, apply makeup, and curl her hair. Amy admits she loves the attention.

The celebrations include a mehndi ceremony where henna is applied to Kira's hands and feet, with Kira adding a playful twist: a henna tattoo of Tony the Tiger on her lower back as an in-joke with Ari. Amy declines to participate, worried the henna will never wash off. The second night, families gather to sing folk songs meant to tease the bride, and Kira embraces it all, her cynicism shelved, happy to be at the center of festivities.

Late that night, Kira drags Amy to a childhood fort in the woods and offers her a joint. Amy takes the smallest puff and coughs. Kira tells Amy she would not be getting married if she had not listened to her—calling it her re-arranged marriage—because Amy got her into therapy. Kira shares two lessons from her therapist: first, she is not that bad, and second, something she cannot remember while stoned.

On the wedding day, over four hundred guests fill a catering hall. The twelve bridesmaids wear lavender saris, looking like a sea of phlox. Kira wears a traditional red sari with gold embroidery, her hair in a crown of braids. She gives each bridesmaid a bracelet with a gold lotus charm symbolizing beauty, prosperity, and fertility. Amy, who had not wanted to join this chorus of women, now fears it will end too soon.

Ari's procession approaches with drumbeats and a flute, surrounded by brothers, uncles, and little boys dancing beneath a striped canopy. Under an altar of flower chains, Ari and Kira face each other, trembling. They exchange garlands, her father places Kira's hands in Ari's with tears in his eyes, and after prayers and vows, the couple ties their garments together and circles the ceremonial fire seven times. The solemnity gives way to cheering and rice spraying through the air.

At the reception, the bridesmaids perform a flash mob to Kira's favorite song,