Genre Fiction
![Monica Ali - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B001H6KU5Q.jpg)
Love Marriage: A Novel
Set in London now, Love Marriage marks the magnificent return of Monica Ali, the Booker Prize shortlisted, "splendid, daring, brilliant, refreshing" novelist (The New Republic) "with an inborn generosity that cannot be learned" (The New York Times Book Review).
Yasmin Ghorami in twenty-six, in training to be a doctor (like her Indian-born father), and engaged to the charismatic, upper-class Joe Sangster, whose formidable mother, Harriet, is a famous feminist. The gulf between families is vast. So, too, is the gulf in sexual experience between Yasmin and Joe.
As the wedding day draws near, misunderstandings, infidelities, and long-held secrets upend both Yasmin's relationship and that of her parents, a "love marriage," according to the family lore that Yasmin has believed all her life.
A gloriously acute observer of class, sexual mores, and the mysteries of the human heart, Monica Ali has written a captivating social comedy and a profoundly moving, revelatory story of two cultures, two families, and two people trying to understand one another.
Monica Ali's Brick Lane was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It was named a best book of the year by The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic.
Yasmin Ghorami in twenty-six, in training to be a doctor (like her Indian-born father), and engaged to the charismatic, upper-class Joe Sangster, whose formidable mother, Harriet, is a famous feminist. The gulf between families is vast. So, too, is the gulf in sexual experience between Yasmin and Joe.
As the wedding day draws near, misunderstandings, infidelities, and long-held secrets upend both Yasmin's relationship and that of her parents, a "love marriage," according to the family lore that Yasmin has believed all her life.
A gloriously acute observer of class, sexual mores, and the mysteries of the human heart, Monica Ali has written a captivating social comedy and a profoundly moving, revelatory story of two cultures, two families, and two people trying to understand one another.
Monica Ali's Brick Lane was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It was named a best book of the year by The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic.
Editorial Reviews
Praise for Love Marriage
"A riveting portrait of a seemingly perfect engagement's unraveling… Ali's character treatments are multifaceted, humane and fluid in this multicultural family drama."
-BookPage, STARRED review
"Cultural clashes, political satire, Oedipal conflicts, elegant prose-they're all here in this romp of a book."
-Oprah Daily
"The characters' brisk discussions on politics, culture, and race skate over ideological divides, the substance of which emerges in dramatic irony and creates a textured portrayal of an immigrant family. This is sure to please Ali's fans and win some new ones."
-Publishers Weekly
"[A] colorful tale of strained relationships ... The finale is rich, bawdy, and bold, a dramatization of the many ways we fail those closest to us and build lives on shifting sediments of buried feelings. And we live for love, nonetheless."
-Booklist
"Ali's immersive novel, skipping deftly between several points of view, might be termed a comedy of manners of Britain's urban middle class, but the comedy here has teeth: Though the book treats its characters with affection, the racial dynamics are conveyed with real, heart-rending bite. A keen look at London life, relationships (especially interracial ones)-and a return to Ali's most celebrated territory."
-Kirkus
UK Praise for Love Marriage
"The work of a mature feminist writer ...Is love enough? Yasmin and her family work together to answer this question, becoming dear friends to the reader along the way"
-The Times
"Rich, sensitive and gloriously entertaining... the novel's real strength lies in its depiction of complex social encounters"
-Tash Aw, Times Literary Supplement
"Ali's superpower is navigating complex family relationships and this is a saga that is at its most absorbing when we're waist-deep in domest...
"A riveting portrait of a seemingly perfect engagement's unraveling… Ali's character treatments are multifaceted, humane and fluid in this multicultural family drama."
-BookPage, STARRED review
"Cultural clashes, political satire, Oedipal conflicts, elegant prose-they're all here in this romp of a book."
-Oprah Daily
"The characters' brisk discussions on politics, culture, and race skate over ideological divides, the substance of which emerges in dramatic irony and creates a textured portrayal of an immigrant family. This is sure to please Ali's fans and win some new ones."
-Publishers Weekly
"[A] colorful tale of strained relationships ... The finale is rich, bawdy, and bold, a dramatization of the many ways we fail those closest to us and build lives on shifting sediments of buried feelings. And we live for love, nonetheless."
-Booklist
"Ali's immersive novel, skipping deftly between several points of view, might be termed a comedy of manners of Britain's urban middle class, but the comedy here has teeth: Though the book treats its characters with affection, the racial dynamics are conveyed with real, heart-rending bite. A keen look at London life, relationships (especially interracial ones)-and a return to Ali's most celebrated territory."
-Kirkus
UK Praise for Love Marriage
"The work of a mature feminist writer ...Is love enough? Yasmin and her family work together to answer this question, becoming dear friends to the reader along the way"
-The Times
"Rich, sensitive and gloriously entertaining... the novel's real strength lies in its depiction of complex social encounters"
-Tash Aw, Times Literary Supplement
"Ali's superpower is navigating complex family relationships and this is a saga that is at its most absorbing when we're waist-deep in domest...
Readers Top Reviews
Becherm a surry
As above but I thought the heroine was what she learned she was at the end. Spoilt, selfish and limited from the beginning, was she a better person at the end. Probably, but did I like her. No
What a lovely book! Full of engaging characters. Was a lovely read. Enjoyed it very much. There has to be a sequel!
