Waterstones Love Marriage
4919 ratings
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Price: £9.50
Brand: Waterstones
Description: The first new novel in a decade from the bestselling, Booker Prize-shortlisted author of Brick Lane. Yasmin Ghorami has a lot to be grateful for: a loving family, a fledgling career in medicine, and a charming, handsome fiancee, fellow doctor Joe Sangster. But as the wedding day draws closer and Yasmin's parents get to know Joe's firebrand feminist mother, both families must confront the unravelling of long-held secrets, lies and betrayals. As Yasmin dismantles her own assumptions about the people she holds most dear, she's also forced to ask herself what she really wants in a relationship and what a 'love marriage' actually means. Love Marriage is a story about who we are and how we love in today's Britain - with all the complications and contradictions of life, desire, marriage and family. What starts as a captivating social comedy develops into a heart-breaking and gripping story of two cultures, two families and two people trying to understand one another.
Category: Books
Merchant: Waterstones
Product ID: 9780349015484
Delivery cost: 2.99
ISBN: 9780349015484
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Author: Rocoll
Rating: 5
Review: This book encompasses quite a lot, but essentially, it’s about sex. It isn’t titillating by any means, but it’s about the role of sex within relationships, culture, power structures. Essentially a story about Yasmin and her fiancé, Joe who have become engaged within five months of dating each other. But Joe is a sex addict and he’s unfaithful, sending their relationship into an agonisingly long tailspin of self-discovery for both of them. Although the reasons for Joe’s addiction are fascinating as outlined in the therapist sessions he has, the most interesting aspect of this is Yasmin’s reaction. And this is really the cleverest part of Ali’s writing: because Yasmin is not a likeable character. She’s real and flawed, immature, solipsistic, dutiful, caring, reckless, absolutely sure that she’s right (until she’s not). It’s such a complex, tour de force of a character study with an added layer of being a British Muslim woman - treated refreshingly with the contrast of her friend, Rania. In many ways, reading Yasmin was uncomfortable, bringing back memories of my youth when I thought I knew everything, but in reality had experienced so little of life, I couldn’t possibly have. Then there’s Harriet - her character sometimes veered towards caricature, but it worked. Her intense love for her son, her lack of boundaries, her liberal views, were balanced with the reasons for all of this. Where we think she’s patronising Yasmin’s mother, Anisah, she’s actually in awe of the woman. Finally, Anisah - I felt her longing for a life beyond her little home in Tatton Hill, her need to spread her wings, her joy, her sorrow. My goodness, her sorrow - I cried. Despite it’s length, the book is a propulsive read, plunging you into these people’s lives, making you care for them, rooting for them. A rare accomplishment in literary fiction. And it’s funny. Ali skewers so many aspects of middle class society, particularly the publishing industry and their treatment of BIPOC writers. Read it, you won’t regret it.
Author: Patricia
Rating: 3
Review: An imaginative plot, with a few interesting characters ; but far, far too long, and with several meandering side-tracks that don’t really contribute to the story. Ali seems keen to flaunt her bit of medical knowledge, born (one assumes) of online research. NHS Alzheimer care has great relevancy, but I question the necessity for mentioning so many obscure illnesses, and introducing hospital in-patient characters who seem to me to be quite superfluous. No spoilers here : but there is one dead-end plot line that the book could well have done without — especially a sexual encounter whose details made me want to hide behind the sofa. Like so many other reviewers, I’m a fan of ‘Brick Lane,’ but about halfway through ‘Love Marriage’ I started to skim-read. All the way through to the (will this never end?) last page. Never a good sign.
