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A review by jacki_f
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
5.0
A Suitable Boy has been on my "must read" list for many years - finally I have got round to it. For the past five weeks I have been immersed in the fictional town of Brahmpur, India. It is a long book (Wikipedia helpfully tells me that it's one of the longest novels ever written), but for the most part it was easy to read and it held my attention throughout.
The book opens with a family wedding which unites the Mehra and Kapoor families. Lata Mehra is the younger sister of the bride and it's her mother's determination to find "a suitable boy" for her daughter to marry that will become one of the main storylines of the novel. The scope widens though, firstly to encompass the other members of the Mehra and Kapoor families, and then their friends and colleagues and then wider still to cover the events of the time that influence their lives. In this way the book manages to be simultaneously both intimate and epic and to take in the broad canvas of 1950s India: both Muslims and Hindus, politicians and prostitutes, city-dwellers and villagers, traditional and modern ways. There is a broad cast of characters and occasionally it can be confusing but family trees at the beginning of the book help you to keep track of who's who.
I love books that are set in India: two of my favourites have been A Fine Balance and Shantaram. This wonderful book has leapt into my all time top 10. It's hard to summarize it better than the quote from the Times which features on the cover of the English edition: "Make time for it. It will keep you company for the rest of your life".
The book opens with a family wedding which unites the Mehra and Kapoor families. Lata Mehra is the younger sister of the bride and it's her mother's determination to find "a suitable boy" for her daughter to marry that will become one of the main storylines of the novel. The scope widens though, firstly to encompass the other members of the Mehra and Kapoor families, and then their friends and colleagues and then wider still to cover the events of the time that influence their lives. In this way the book manages to be simultaneously both intimate and epic and to take in the broad canvas of 1950s India: both Muslims and Hindus, politicians and prostitutes, city-dwellers and villagers, traditional and modern ways. There is a broad cast of characters and occasionally it can be confusing but family trees at the beginning of the book help you to keep track of who's who.
I love books that are set in India: two of my favourites have been A Fine Balance and Shantaram. This wonderful book has leapt into my all time top 10. It's hard to summarize it better than the quote from the Times which features on the cover of the English edition: "Make time for it. It will keep you company for the rest of your life".