A suitable boy - Vikram Seth

Vikram Seth's novel is at its core a love story, the tale of Lata - and her mother's attempts to find her a suitable husband, through love or through exacting maternal appraisal. Set in post-Independence India and involving the lives of four large families and those who orbit them, it is also a vast panoramic exploration of a whole continent at a crucial hour as a sixth of the world's population faces its first great General Election and the chance to map its own destiny. 'A SUITABLE BOY may prove to be the most fecund as well as the most prodigious work of the latter half of this century - perhaps even the book to restore the serious reading public's faith in the contemporary novel ...You should make time for it. It will keep you company for the rest of your life' Daniel Johnson, The Times

This is a splendid, massive family saga, set in post-Independence India. The legacy of the Raj is brought under the author's good-humoured but absolutely just scrutiny; Mrs Rupa Mehra goes in search of a good match for her emancipated daughter, Lata; keeping her company, the reader begins to understand the real wealth of India. Saeed Jaffrey, the actor, adds: The opportunity to read this novel came when the BBC's World Service invited me to read it for them in 20 15-minute episodes in 1997. I am deeply familiar with the Uttar Pradesh background and the characters in the novel are so real; I came across people like Mrs Roopa Mehra and family as a child. Seth has honestly, and with humour and understanding, captured the period and its characters, including the ones based on the Czech 'Bata' lot. (Kirkus UK)

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