Beth F
Sandy
bermudaonion (Kathy)
Stephanie
Trisha
The Marriage Bureau For Rich People by Farahad Zama
Although Mr. Ali has been retired for some time, he has decided to start his own business to fill his free time. A marriage bureau seems just the thing in India, where many marriages are still arranged. His business is so successful that his wife hires him an assistant, Aruna. Although Aruna’s family are Brahmins, they have fallen on hard financial times. Her father doesn’t have the money even to provide her with a dowry or pay for a wedding.
“The Marriage Bureau For Rich People” provides a great sense of place. I absorbed so much about Southern Indian customs while reading this book. Oh, and I craved Indian food all day while reading it.
There was something about the style of the writing that was throwing me off at the beginning of the book, but I became involved enough in the story that I stopped noticing it. I will also say that most of the characters were pretty superficial, although Aruna was fairly well fleshed-out and a great character. Really, though, I liked it a lot despite the flaws.
The best book I’ve read all year? No. However, it was a very fun and enjoyable read. I liked it.
Buy this book from:
Powells.
A local independent bookstore via Indiebound.
Amazon.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me this book to review!
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I felt similarly about the characters; Aruna was the only one who really had some complexity.
For me, the big impetus to I-gotta-have-Indian-food-NOW was Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese!
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I have this one and I think I’ll read it when I need something light and fun!
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This sounds good because of the sense of place! I love it when books make me feel like I’ve visited a new country.
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I always enjoy reading a book that transports you to another land, making you feel like you can almost smell and taste the environment. I will probably never visit India, but this is the next best thing.
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Hey, I’m all for a fun and enjoyable read! It sounds good to me.
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I really enjoy reading about India and this sounds like a fun one!
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Love that title.
.-= Janet´s last blog ..Gift horses =-.
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I have this one too and I’ve been putting off reading it because I’m not sure if I’ll like it. I think I’ll save for a lazy day when I want some light reading.
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I agree with your comment that the characters in this book were generally superficial, but that’s actually why it appealed to me. I thought it was a light, fun book that was easy to read. Nice review!
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