Reviews

I'd been wanting to read a book by Bali Rai for such a long time but never got around to it. I'd always heard great things, my sister is a fan and I was really impressed when I met him on an author visit a couple of years ago. I'm glad I FINALLY picked this book up, and a part of my wishes I had read it when I was a teenager. I understand why I didn't, at the time I wanted to read about magic, witches and love stories. Stories about other cultures I saw as removed from my own didn't interest me. This is such a brilliant, and easy to read book. It is written in an extremely accessible way, and the characters talk like realistic teenagers which is really refreshing. It was also interesting to hear the story of arranged marriages told from the perspective of a teenage boy.

That is a shame that I dismissed it though, because (Un)arranged marriage tells a compelling and believable story of a teenage boy's fight for his individuality and freedom. Manjit, or rather Manny, has grown up in a strictly traditional, and abusive, Punjabi family in Leicester (Bali Rai's home town and not far from where I live). He is the youngest son, and feels isolated from the rest of this family because he has grown up influence by the more liberal and 'Western' values. He finds the ignorance and racism of his family difficult to bear, particularly as his best friend is black and he falls for a white girl. Once it is announced that his father plans to wed him to another Punjabi girl Manny has four years to find a way to un-arrange the marriage and live out his life the way that he wants to.

I liked Manny a lot. I liked his independent spirit, and his thoughtful and tolerant attitude. I really felt for him as he struggled against the oppressive nature of his family life; and at the hands of his father and brother's fists, along with his otherwise silent mother's emotional manipulation. I got frustrated with him, as I always go, when he went of the rails a little and messed up his school career but I could understand why he acted that way. I loved his relationship with Ady, they were both funny together and so supportive it was sweet. I was rooting for Manny until the end, I believe that he will make something good out of his life.

His family were a mixed bag. His mother may as well have been absent, as he noted that she barely ever even spoke to him. Presumably silence makes a good Punjabi wife, as we hardly hear from any of the women besides Manny's sister-in-law Jas. His father is a small-minded drunk who is obsessed with the traditional idea of what a good Punjabi is (do as a you are told and stick to your own basically). Alcoholism is apparently fine, as hard drinking is part of what makes you a "real man." There was a good deal of hypocrisy in the idea that this man has moved his family to another country with another culture only to and spew racism towards all other cultures - even the one he has chosen to live within. There is balance given to this by other members of Manny's extended family who have much more liberal, tolerant views.

I know very little about Punjabi culture but this book was so easy to get into and a real pleasure to read. The writing is so accessible, you could pick it up and be sucked in within pages. I now feel a little more informed about what is a complex (and sometimes contradictory in the case of Manny's family) set of traditions. Bali Rai makes it very clear that these traditions are cultural, economic and political (the caste system that is alive and well in India) have nothing to do with the religion of Sikhism. And that indeed Manny does not view himself nor any of his family has being real Sikhs in the religious sense as they uphold none of the core values of tolerance and equality.

It's a great story, and surprisingly easy read which might actually make you think a little bit, and learn something if you're like me! Brilliant YA literature. Give it a read!