Alys Binat and her family have been invited to a most
impressive society wedding. Once the Binats also moved in
such exalted circles, but now down on their luck, it is a
once-in-a-lifetime chance for the five daughters to at last
find husbands. Eldest daughter Jena falls in love and hopes
her feelings are reciprocated, but Bungles’ best friend
Valentine Darsee is not impressed by the embarrassing antics
of loud Mrs Binat and certain of her children. But maybe Alys
can reveal another side to Mr Darsee?
I’m sure the above outline sounds
familiar and it is; Pride and Prejudice no less! But this
time set in fairly modern Pakistan. The names have been cleverly
altered to resemble the ones in the book but be Pakistani,
and life there in 2000 (when the book is set) is revealed
to be very similar in many ways too. I don’t know enough
about the country to know why the book was not set in contemporary
times but I did enjoy reading about what life was like in
both rural and more urban locations twenty years ago. The
story shows the immense pressure on young women to marry,
and takes a look at how class-obsessed everybody is. Nothing
has changed much in over two hundred years and much of it
applies anywhere today as well, making it all seem very fresh
and relevant. Reading about a different culture is always
interesting and the author manages to create a setting that
seems very real and authentic (not that I can comment on it
with any authority) by weaving many details into the story
and avoiding the dreaded infodump. What is lacking is any
real feeling of actual romance, as Jena pines a lot for Bungles
without having spent much time with him and Darsee is barely
there at all, with very few rather brief meetings between
him and protagonist Alys. Ageing the two girls to be 30 and
32 was a good idea, and the relationship between Sherry and
the man she marries departs from the book but has its own
point to make. Jane Austen herself might have been a bit keener
on weeding out superfluous passages and eradicating any repetition;
there are certainly some areas that would have benefited.
Likewise an extension of the time spent between the various
couples. But this is a minor complaint in what is otherwise
a most enjoyable book, and as I don’t usually enjoy
romances, this is praise indeed! Ms Kamal is clearly an author
to watch out for.
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