A Suitable Boy

Author(s): Vikram Seth

Fiction

Opening and closing with a wedding, this novel is ostensibly the story of a Hindu family trying to find a suitable husband for their younger daughter, Lata. Who will the suitable boy turn out to be? The dashing Kabir, with whom Lata falls in love? The ambitious businessman whom Lata's mother favors? Or the sophisticated poet her relatives choose? The interwoven stories of four families linked by marriage form the background for this marital quest. It proves slow-moving at first, but the patient reader will inevitably be caught up in the compelling rhythms of a richly complex tale. The setting--India in the 1950s--is vividly realized: the enormity of the subcontinent, its overpowering heat, lush gardens, colorful festivals, and exotic foods. Memorable characters abound; not since Dickens has there been such a lively and idiosyncratic cast crowded into one novel. Drama is provided by the simmering conflict between Hindu and Muslim, which breaks out unexpectedly throughout the novel. This is old-fashioned storytelling at its best; highly recommended. - Library Journal

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Over 750,000 copies now sold Chosen as one of the best 100 books ever in the Big Reads promotion, A Suitable Boy has achieved classic status Stunning new cover design for this and An Equal Music 'No one, surely, could wish this novel shorter ... the greatness of the novel, its unassailable truthfulness, owes less to research than to imagination, an instinctive knowledge of the human heart' Observer 'A long, sweet, sleepless pilgrimage to life...such writing reminds us that there are secrets beyond technique, beyond even style' James Wood, Guardian 'Vikram Seth is already the best writer of his

Winner of WH Smith Literary Prize 1994 and Commonwealth Writers Prize 1994 and W H Smith Annual Literary Award 1994. Runner-up for The BBC Big Read Top 100 2003. Shortlisted for BBC Big Read Top 100 2003.

Vikram Seth was born in 1952. He trained as an economist and has lived for several years each in England, California, China and India. He is the author of A Suitable Boy, which was an international number one bestseller, An Equal Music and several other novels. He has also written five volumes of poetry including Beastly Tales.

General Fields

  • : 9781857990881
  • : Orion Publishing Group, Limited
  • : Phoenix
  • : 0.87
  • : October 1993
  • : 198mm X 129mm X 60mm
  • : United Kingdom
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Vikram Seth
  • : Paperback
  • : 2
  • : English
  • : 823
  • : very good
  • : 1504
  • : Modern fiction